The Assassin who Lived
by Forever Free Evergreen
Summary: James Potter Jr believes he is the Boy-who-lived as does everyone else. What they don't know is that someone else has been doing it for him, someone who looks almost identical to him. R
1. 1st Contract

_**Disclaimer & Caution note:**__ The following fic has been rated M for containing paragraphs of blood and gore, violence, rape, nudity and sexual nature. Any readers not fond of any of these are advised to find another fic to read._

_Harry Potter cast, settings and locations are not owned by author, everything else below and beyond is._

_Thank you for your cooperation._

_Now that that's all said & done, quit reading this head note & scroll down for the story!_

**~#~**

**1****st**** Kill:**

_**Media Nox Caedes  
(Midnight Bloodshed)**_

**~#~**

The _Nocturnal Succubus_ was a popular brothel bar for many a wizard, preferably dark wizards. It was especially so because the girls for hire were mudbloods, muggleborn witches, that were orphaned or kidnapped from their homes sometimes even straight out of Hogsmeade if their supplier was lucky.

Each and every night since the rebirth of Lord Voldemort, the place was playing host to a whole battalion of Death Eaters whilst one of their superiors, known as a Death Killer and were mostly the remains of the Dark Lord's first army, would show up at the end of each week and pay handsomely for the best mudblood they had for the week and do whatever he wanted with her before killing her. It was okay with the owner as mudbloods outnumbered purebloods a hundred to one plus the extra money allowed them to _buy_ new girls and get them ready for the next visitor.

Despite the fact that the place was practically a beacon for Death Eaters, the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement and Auror and Hit-wizard Division were unable to storm the place and make arrests left right and centre due to its Diplomatic Immunity Decree. This was obviously done via blackmail, death threats and bribery with the probability of it being handled by Lucius Malfoy who was Minister Fudge's advisor and well suspected Death Killer.

Despite this, the odd traveller would sometimes come through the door and get a drink or a girl or both, assuming that that traveller was not intimidated by all the Death Eaters suddenly glaring their way some even with their wands out.

The moment the door to the establishment opened, the entire populace of the bar went silent as if struck with a silencing charm. Covered from head to toe in a pitch black long coat with its hood up, the traveller stepped inside the dimly lit room and made his way to the bar completely undeterred by the attention he was getting from the other patrons, his black boots thudding loudly in the silence. Reaching the only remaining bar stool, he sat himself down on it completely ignoring all the Death Eaters.

"What's your poison?" The bartender asked as he reached the traveller.

"A shot of your oldest mulled mead" The male voice replied under the hood placing a small bag full of money on the counter. "As well as the rest of the bottle"

The man's voice was young, indicating that he was probably still in his early twenties, yet the calmness and maturity of it indicated that whilst he probably was that young physically he had seen things that had made him age fourfold mentally.

At that moment, the door of the establishment burst open again to allow another customer in, another Death Eater by judging by the commotion the patrons were giving. Acknowledging the greetings he got from the rest of the patrons, the man walked over to the bar and pushed the traveller to the side as he beckoned for the barkeep.

"You know the routine Ebenezer!" The man barked. "You better have gotten it right this time!"

"But of course Mister Dolohov" The barkeep Ebenezer replied without missing a beat a he passed the man a key. "Brunette, of age, slim build and from Ravenclaw"

Antonin Dolohov grunted before snatching up the key. He then held his hand out for another bunch of room keys which he threw to his men before walking away, ignoring the brief scrabble his men made as they fought for one of the keys. All the while, the traveller had not moved from his spot other than to right himself after being shoved out the way.

"Business booming?" He asked lightly when he finally received his drink five minutes later after reminding the barkeep of his order.

"As long as the Dark Lord is around, everyday is a good day" Ebenezer replied getting several cheers of agreement from some of the surrounding patrons. "If you play your cards right an join up, you might get lucky yourself serving him"

The traveller snorted before downing the glass in one shot slamming it hard back onto the counter. "I may not be a gambler, but I do know that putting my money on that shitty bastard would be wasted"

The entire bar went silent at those words. One of the Death Eaters closest to the traveller marched over and grabbed his right shoulder, intent on making the traveller face him before he was put under the torture curse until he begged for forgiveness then struck with the killing curse. Before he was able to throw him round, the Death Eater saw the traveller's left hand appear over his right shoulder pointing one of those muggle firearms at his head. A shot of red light danced from the small double barrel pistol and collided with his head exploding it and spraying several Death Eaters in blood and grey matter.

Taking advantage of their stunned expressions, the traveller spun round and pointed his two pistols in different directions before shooting explosion after explosion hex at them either taking off their heads of getting them in the chest near the heart. Nearly two dozen Death Eaters had been killed before the rest of them gathered their wits and cast shielding spells on themselves. Seeing that he could not kill anymore, the traveller apparently gave up and let his arms hang loosely by his side, the pistols dropped to the floor.

Smiling to themselves, the Death Eaters closed in on their prey. They did not see the feral grin on the traveller's face as he manipulated the muscles in his lower arms, allowing two rocks of Peruvian darkness powder to fall from his sleeves and hit the floor covering the whole room in darkness. The next moment, screams and the sound of flesh being torn and pierced was heard throughout the room and would have alerted the rest of the place had the room not been sealed in a silencing rune dome.

**~#~**

Dolohov was too busy enjoying himself to even care, let alone wonder what was happening downstairs. He was currently ramming his fully erect member up the mudblood's ass, having already gone through her now bleeding pussy, whilst his hands squeezed and twisted her breasts hard all the while relishing the squeals of pain she made as he drove in and out of her. After several more minutes of her screams as she felt her backside was being torn open, Dolohov removed himself from her and threw her against the wall.

Standing from the bed, Dolohov grinned maniacally as he watched the mudblood press herself against the wall as if trying to disappear into the woodwork and away from him as blood began to pool on the floor around her from his previous administrations. Grabbing her face roughly in one hand, Dolohov made the girl open her mouth into which he shoved the tip of his member in.

"Keep sucking and I'll kill you quickly" He ordered.

As the girl complied, Dolohov reminisced about how he had gotten his craving for smart brunettes. Over a year ago, he had been part of a group to attack Hogsmeade whilst the students of Hogwarts were about. Their objective was to install fear for their reborn Dark Lord but that objective was removed the moment he saw the curly haired brunette who was known as the top of her year and a mudblood stun one of his colleagues. After knocking her out, he made to show the girl her place but was stopped by Dumbledore and several of his order intervening. Ever since, he used the bitches of the brothel as practice dummies to perfect what he would do to the mudblood when he next saw her.

Feeling himself suddenly on the verge of release, Dolohov pushed his member into the girl's mouth until her nose was squashed against him sufficiently suffocating her as he came. This was the moment he wanted to enjoy the most with the mudblood; listening to her muffled moans as her arms flailed about helplessly as she was drowned in his own cum. Afterwards he would screw her again twice more, filling up her other holes before ordering the corpse to be discarded where she had last been seen as is, to allow all mudblood sluts to see the fate that was in store for them.

It was not to happen this time apparently as he suddenly felt himself being flung away from the girl smashing into the wall at the opposite side of the room. Blinking the stars out of his eyes, Dolohov turned to glare at the bastard who had just robbed him of his prize only to balk at who he was seeing.

Standing in front of the girl who was now vomiting up whatever remnants of her stomach along with his semen, a man in a black long coat stared back at him. The hood had fallen down allowing Dolohov to see the familiar face of James Potter Junior, the boy-who-lived. But this one was different, instead of tame short jet black hair with red highlights and almond eyes, this one had uncontrollable short jet black hair held up by a red bandanna and emerald green eyes.

Slowly picking himself up, Dolohov made a grab for the wand atop his discarded robes.

"_Gladius Lumis_"

A pillar of light shot from the teen's outstretched hand and cleanly cut off Dolohov's arm from the shoulder down. Reeling in pain, Dolohov managed to ram down the door and run down the hall, all the while screaming for his men. The Death Eaters who were on the same floor appeared in doorways in various states of undress with their wands drawn and looking about trying to find what their superior was screaming about.

"_Falx Ventus_"

Heads were barely able to turn towards the origin of those words before what seemed to be an invisible blade sent them from their necks to the floor whilst blood gushed from the openings like fountains.

Dolohov did not realise his men were already dead as he had finished tumbling to the bottom of the staircase and had just managed to pick himself up and barge into the bar room only to lose whatever remaining colour his skin still had as he stared at the scene before him.

Bodies of Death Eaters were strewn about the floor all of them either dissected in some way or missing their heads completely but all having a hole where there heart had been before they had been torn out. In the centre of the massacre stood the traveller, except now he was shrouded in a black shadow and had what appeared to be the neck and heads of two demon-like lizards on his shoulders both with very sharp sets of fangs tainted red whilst appearing from the small of his back appeared to be several slimy black tentacles with tips similar to a scythes.

Suddenly one of the tentacles speared forward into the last living Death Eater. The dark wizard grunt barely had time to scream before it was pulled close enough for one of the two heads to bite off his head whilst the other tore out his heart as the tentacle flicked the body off of its limb.

Seeing that the demon was distracted, Dolohov grabbed the wand from one of the prone death eaters and aimed at it. One of the demon heads noticed and retaliated by lashing out with one of its tentacles splitting both the wand and Dolohov's arm right up the middle and passed the elbow joint.

Screaming in pain that was more excruciating than his master's crucio, Dolohov sank to his knees as his strength left him. Looking up at the sound of approaching boots, Dolohov found himself staring at the demon traveller and the boy-who-lived's look alike.

"What are you, demons?" He asked weakly.

"Assassins" The doppelganger replied before aiming his hand at him. "_Soror Eversio_"

Dolohov knew no more as his head suddenly popped as if struck with an explosive hex.

**~#~**

_**Translations**_

_Gladius Lumis _= Sword of Light

_Falx Ventus_ = Scythe of Wind

_Soror Eversio _= Sisters of Destruction

_**Notes**_

_For an idea of what the black tentacle beast looks like, go on to YouTube and type in __**The Darkness PS3**__ that should help._

***~#~***

_Review if possible & 'til next time_

_Watch your back & peace be upon you (Feels more fitting than my usual footer,for this fic at least)_


	2. 2nd Contract

_Disclaimers on chapter 1. You think I'd repeat all that again?_

_**~#~**_

_**Multi ad Tartarus, Unus ad Caelum  
(Many to Hell, One to Heaven)**_

_**~#~**_

It was very rare for Albus Dumbledore to be up after midnight, especially when tomorrow night, or rather tonight, was when the students return for another year at Hogwarts. At this moment he was currently pacing about in front of the fireplace in his office as if expecting an urgent floo call. All the while his familiar watched on as if amused by his master's pacing.

Without warning the flames turned green and the head of Kingsley Shacklebolt suddenly appeared in it.

"Albus, you need to see this!" He said with apparent urgency.

Barely waiting for the head to disappear, Albus dove into the fireplace and found himself entering what appeared to be the aftermath of a horrendous fight. Dozens of witches and wizards were cautiously picking their way over the remains of the bodies as they attempted to find anyone alive who had witnessed the gruesome spectacle.

"We received a floo-call from the neighbour across the road fifteen minutes ago saying something about seeing the taverns windows getting splattered in blood" The dark skinned Auror beside him explained. "When we arrived, there were wards on the doors preventing anyone from getting in or out. We finally got through a few minutes ago, but from the looks of it I doubt the people behind this are still here"

Dumbledore nodded slowly as he looked about. Earlier today he had been sent an owl saying that _they_ would be striking tonight but he had not expected the Nocturnal Succubus to be the place that was struck. He had expected them to hit one of the less important strongholds of the Death Eaters. By hitting the tavern, they had sent a clear message to Tom and his underlings; watch your backs.

It was certain that Lucius would be kicking up a fuss about this. Of course that was assuming he survived Tom's tantrum over losing one of his inner circle as well as a whole battalion of Death Eaters.

'_I have to hand it to Solomon, he knows how to train his agents_Dumbledore mused to himself having seen his friend's work for the first time despite hiring them before James Poter Junior's first year at Hogwarts. _'It looks like this year is going to be _very_ interesting'_

As Dumbledore picked his way through the deceased towards the stairway, he never noticed the ink black snakehead that was watching him. Slithering away, it returned to its master that was standing on the roof of the house across the road from the tavern with another snakelike head on his left shoulder. Once the wandering snakehead returned to its place on the man's right shoulder, both snakeheads disappeared into the dark aura surrounding his body.

Disappearing into the aura as well, the hooded stranger reappeared in a small apartment he and his partner using whilst they were not on missions. Throwing of his hooded trench coat, the assassin looked around the place to see that, whilst his partner was elsewhere, someone else was waiting for him.

"The information was, how you say, spot on, Monsieur Mahado?" The seated guest asked from underneath the cloak that was covering her whole body leaving just her head and flowing blonde locks visible to the assassin.

"The information was accurate, we sent a message to our once unsuspecting enemy and Orphen gets revenge on what Dolohov did to his lover. All in all, mission accomplished" Mahado said grinning darkly before looking curiously at the informant. "Just how did you manage to get the information on _when_ Dolohov goes to that brothel?"

The informant stared seductively at Mahado before answering the question. "A little Veela charm and the opening of ones legs can make the unintelligent bark until their throats bleed"

A well tanned hand brushed through short sandy locks as Mahado shook his head at the girl's answer. When he had first seen the girl several years ago, she was nothing like she was now. All because he had saved her life, she had devoted herself to paying back by becoming an information gatherer in her home country. A very good and seductive one at that, yet despite her ways of gathering Intel she had not really bedded any of her targets; she got the info, stunned them then cast a memory altering charm on them.

"Well then, I have done my part" She stood up and allowed the cloak covering her to fall to the floor allowing Mahado to see her in all her naked glory as she walked up to him. "It is time for you to uphold your part"

A feral grin etched itself onto Mahado's face. He was the only person she allowed inside her. Grabbing her round the waist as she came within reach, he pulled her flush against him as their lips connected. As hands roamed and tongues fought for dominance, he vaguely noted his garments being literally torn off his very body before grabbing her shapely derriere in both hands and lifting her off the ground causing her to wrap her legs round Mahado's waist.

"Where is Orphen by the way?" She asked as she felt her lover's member brush against her nether lips.

"Sending his own love to heaven" Mahado replied before entering her making the woman moan loudly as she felt herself enter the heavens.

_**~#~**_

Halfway across England in a well furbished neighbourhood, a girl in her late teens sat crossed legged on her bed as she became engrossed in one of her favourite books. Despite knowing that she had to get up in six hours in order to get to Kings Cross in time to catch the Hogwarts Express, Hermione was worried very little about falling to sleep.

When a cool breeze fluttered through her supposedly closed bedroom window, Hermione smiled to herself before closing the book and putting it on her bedside table before a pair of strong, slender arms encircled her and pinned her against the chest of the person behind her.

"I was beginning to wonder if you weren't going to come this week" She said calmly as she leaned into her captor's chest trying to see his face. "Then again, at your age, the great Orphen probably has too many women to keep track of"

Orphan smiled as he moved one of his hands under the shirt Hermione was wearing and ghosted across her skin until it came to rest on a scar she had gained at the end of her fifth year before moving further up.

"The one who did this to you is gone from this world" He whispered into her hair.

"Hope it was painful" She whispered back as she tried to resist her lover's administrations to her breast as the other hand pulled her shirt up until she was forced to remove the garment allowing Orphen to attack her neck with his lips.

"Weak and _armless_" He answered between bites. By now his free hand had snaked down her body and was stroking her entrance through her now moist underwear.

"Hermione?" Her mother's voice sounded through the closed door. "Are you still up?"

Hermione cursed in every language she knew as she pulled out of her lover's grasp and headed towards the door stopping only when she felt her underwear disappearing. Turning round to scold Orphen, all she saw was an empty room.

"Yes, Mother?" She asked as she opened the door wide enough for her mother to see her face but not the rest of her.

"You should be getting to sleep dear, we'll have to get up early in order to make it to Kings Cross" Her mother said kindly.

"I was just going to, night" Hermione replied before closing the door and listening for the sound of her mother's footsteps heading towards her own room.

Turning round, Hermione barely had time to gasp before she was pressed against the door and her mouth invaded with Orphen's tongue.

"Do you honestly know how annoying that is, turning round to see someone wearing nothing but a bandanna suddenly pinning you to the door?" She asked frustratingly before kissing him again.

"You never complained last week when you were pinned against the shower wall" Orphen replied cheekily as he lifted one of her legs to gain better access to her nether lips. He groaned as Hermione suddenly grabbed his member firmly in one hand preventing it from going any further.

"That's because my parents _weren't _in at the time" She countered. "What if they hear us?"

"They won't if we keep it quiet"

Hermione wanted to argue more but was silenced by Orphen kissing her again. Giving up, Hermione released her hold on Orphen's member and moaned into his mouth as she felt him enter her until his cock was fully inside her. As she kept her mouth firmly attached to his as he moved in and out of her at a steady pace, Hermione allowed her hands to roam her love's back and hair. Completely by accident one of her hands brushed off Orphen's bandanna revealing a lightning shaped scar just below his hair line.

As her climax came even closer, Orphen increased his rhythm causing Hermione to wrap her other leg round him as she buried her face in his neck. That only served to speed up the process and all too soon she came crying her lover's true name into his neck.

"_Harry!_"

_***~#~***_

_For those curious, my Latin is non existent so I'm just copying words out of a Latin dictionary._

_Review if possible & 'til next time_

_Watch your back & peace be upon you_


	3. 3rd Contract

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

_**~#~**_

_**Tergum ad Opus  
(Back to Work)**_

_**~#~**_

The clock on the bedside table told Orphen it was just after half five in the morning when he pried his eyes open. Tilting his head from side to side to work out the kinks, the young assassin looked down at his lover who was lying on top of him, face hidden under her hair.

As careful and quietly as he could, Orphen rolled the two of them over so that he could return to his own dwellings only for that plan to be dashed when the girl's slender legs wrapped round his waist the moment her back was to the mattress.

"Trying to leave without saying goodbye?" Hermione asked quietly as she smiled up at her man grinding her hips against his member so that it began to stir as well. Orphen could not help but smirk as he realised she was still in heat.

"What ever happened to that cute, bossy, know-it-all I met all those years ago?" He asked as he used one hand to hold him up whilst the other began massaging Hermione's breasts.

"She is currently hibernating until six o'clock where she will begin preparing herself for the year ahead" Hermione swiftly countered. "So, seeing as there is still twenty seven minutes to said time, I suggest we make the most of it"

Orphen needed no second telling and slowly pushed his member into his lover's nether lips until he was buried up to the hilt. As he began to slowly move in and out of her, Orphen looked back on the day fate allowed them to truly meet face to face.

He was only eleven at the time yet he was on his seventh, and apparently longest, mission yet; Watch over James Potter Junior, alias Junior or Jr, during his time at Hogwarts. Despite being uncertain of his mission objective, Orphen followed the boy like a shadow and occasionally saw him pick on a fellow Gryffindor, who he later found out was Hermione Granger, due to the girl being better both spell and mentality wise than him.

On the day of the Halloween feast, Jr had finally pushed Hermione over the edge forcing the girl to run off to the nearest girl's toilet in tears. Upon hearing from Mahado that the Defence Against Dark Arts, or DADA, teacher of the time had let in a troll that was currently wandering the floor where Hermione was located, Orphen quickly moved to cut the troll off at the pass before it stumbled in on her.

He was too late in intercepting the troll and was forced to reveal himself in order to take it out before the muggleborn was nothing more than a stain on the bathroom floor. He was surprised when, not only did she kiss him on the cheek in thanks, she promised she would not tell anyone about his existence. Ever since, the two had been friends and eventual lovers.

Hermione herself was looking back on that fateful day when she not only discovered a secret group of spellcasters but also discovered her new friend now lover's secret. She had been shocked when the troll that was about to crush her with its club suddenly lost its head but even more so when she saw who her saviour was. In way of thanks she swore to keep both his identity and secret to herself.

Pulling out of her reverie as she felt herself coming to boil, Hermione tightened her legs grip around Orphen's waist determined to keep him inside of her for as long as possible. Snippets of other memories flashed before her eyes as she pulled him down on top of her.

Their first kiss at the end of second year after she had awoken from her paralysis induced sleep; Their first time making love during third year after having the misfortune of witnessing Jr and Ginny Weasley doing it in the Shrieking Shack; The moment during fourth year when Orphen asked her to aid him and Mahado in making sure Jr came out of the Triwizard Tournament alive; And just last year when Orphen promised to get revenge on Dolohov for what he did to her.

Unable to hold it in anymore, Hermione moaned into Orphen's mouth as she came. Orphen had just reached his limits also and rammed his member as far in as he could as he released his seed into her womb. The two lay wrapped in the other's arms tenderly kissing one another as they basked in the afterglow until the bedside clock roared into life.

Asides mewling in protest when Orphen drew out of her, Hermione lay limp on her bed as her lover got up and cleaned and dressed himself with just a flick of his wrist.

"When are you going to show me how to do wandless magic?" She asked after finally making herself sit up.

Orphen smiled down at the girl with an endless thirst for knowledge before snaking a hand round the back of her neck and pulling her up for another heated kiss.

"Once all this is over, perhaps" He replied after releasing her from the lip lock and disappearing from the room without a sound.

Upon reappearing in his apartment, the sounds of a woman moaning in rapture told Orphen that his partner and lover were still going at it. Entering the living room, the assassin was given a grand view of the blonde haired informant's breasts as she moved up and down on Mahado's member who was thrusting into her from underneath on the wooden floor. Suddenly slamming down on his member as hard as she could, the blonde moaned in pure ecstasy as her orgasm raced through her body.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Orphen" The blonde greeted him between pants as she recovered from her high. "If you are wishing for a turn, I'm afraid you will have to wait until next time"

"I'll stay with who I've already fallen for, Fleur" Orphen politely declined. "Have you two been at it all night?"

"Veela's, regardless of full or half and such, take _much_ longer to climax. Couple that with my power and you get one _very long _night" Mahado replied as he stood up taking the still impaled Fleur with him.

Orphen took his word for it. He had known Mahado ever since he became an assassin and was taken under the wing of the pistol mage. After declaring Orphen as a true assassin on his fourteenth birthday, Mahado focused on finding himself a distraction and finding it in Fleur Delacour who he rescued from being tortured by a fellow champion during the final challenge.

Orphen also knew that if the twenty-two year old was aiming at you it would be the last thing he ever saw. He had witnessed him taking on a basilisk when he was twelve and was amazed when he took it down with just three shots; eyes and back of the throat. And that was nothing compared to when he was in full _bullet dance_ as he liked to call it.

"So, what's the plan until tonight?" He asked his former superior as the man removed himself from the informant and cleaned and dressed himself with a flick of his wrist just like he had done before leaving Hermione.

"I managed to grab a side-job that should keep us busy until the allotted time" Mahado explained showing his partner a slip of paper. "Some vamp's raised a decent sized horde of inferi and is marching towards some small town in the U.S as we speak"

Orphen smirked coldly at the thought of being able to go all out without risk of innocent casualties. He had been able to hold back the true force of his magic despite seeing red at what Dolohov had been doing to that poor girl and now, after being revitalised, he was ready to let off some serious steam.

Five minutes later, the two assassins were freefalling in the American night sky towards their objective. From several hundred feet high, they could clearly see the full size of the undead horde.

"Middle-out or beginning-to-end?" Mahado called over to Orphen as they sped towards the rising ground.

"Does it matter?" Orphen called back his voice and demeanour now as cold and heartless as his profession. He had been like that ever since he had found out that his birth parents had abandoned him when he was just over a year old and it was only thanks to Hermione and Mahado that he was still human.

Mahado shrugged before pulling out his pistols and calling forth the darkness he had become one with since becoming an assassin. As well as the heads and tentacles of the black beast appearing, Mahado's pistols also changed so that he was now wielding a six barrelled hand cannon in his right and a single barrelled in his left. Upon landing lightly with a reflexive repulse spell that sent the surrounding inferi flying, Mahado pointed his right gun at the horde and pulled the trigger sending rapid fire explosion spells spewing from the six barrels like a mini-gun.

Releasing the trigger, Mahado double spun on the spot turning himself into a lethal whirlwind as the scythe tipped tentacles cut off limbs with such ease it was like a hot knife through butter before shooting his left gun. This one, instead of shooting off multiple spells a once, fired a single explosive spell that was at least ten times the power of a normal one leaving quite the crater after words.

Whilst Mahado was entertaining the horde, Orphen was heading straight for the jugular. Cutting through the inferi in his way with his Falx Ventus or Gladius Lumis spells, Orphen finally reached the vampire commanding the horde. Jumping backwards as his opponent clawed the air where his head had once been, Orphen sent a Gladius Lumis at him that only clipped the vampires shoulder as the night lord moved to the side to evade.

"Pitiful humans" The vampire sneered. "Your little parlour tricks will serve naught against me"

"You're the pitiful one" Orphen countered raising both hands in front of him. "_Columen Tartarus_"

The vampire barely had time to scream as he was engulfed in a pillar of fire and lava erupting from beneath him. With the puppeteer vanquished, the remaining inferi crumbled to dust leaving just the two assassins in the lonely field.

"We were supposed to wipe out the puppets _then_kill the puppeteer" Mahado scolded half heartedly.

"As long as it gets done, does it matter?" Orphen asked walking away.

Mahado shook his head at his partner's retreating back. Had his parents actually died instead of just abandoning him for their other offspring that they were now protecting, would the teen actually let himself bask in the light without wrapped in the arms of his lover?

_**~#~**_

_**Translations**_

_Columen Tartarus_ = Pillar of Hell

_***~#~***_

_Review if possible & 'til next time_

_Watch your back & peace be upon you_


	4. 4th Contract

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

_**~#~**_

_**Coram  
(Face to Face)**_

_**~#~**_

James Nicholas Potter was confused as he made his way towards Professor Dumbledore's office. Usually it was after the first potion lesson that he was sent there after getting into trouble with the Professor. Not his fault that Snivellus and his father were childhood enemies and that he had sided and defended his dad who worked in the Ministry.

His day had been going so well too. Upon boarding the express and finding the compartment used for Prefect meetings, Junior made himself at home until the rest of the Prefects showed up which would usually be after eleven when the express set off on its journey to Hogsmeade. Being Head Boy meant he had his own living quarters only marred by having to share it with Granger but, fortunately, they had different bed chambers.

Not long after he got comfy, his girlfriend and fellow Prefect Ginny Weasley arrived. Having already known her before going to Hogwarts for his first year it was inevitable that they would have gotten together; the Chamber of Secrets was basically the nudge they needed to tie the proverbial knot.

Junior was just beginning to receive his _present_ from Ginny for getting the Head Boy position when the stupid know-it-all Granger had the impeccable timing of showing up. He got his own back by finishing unwrapping and enjoying it in the know-it-all's compartment after the meeting not knowing how lucky he was that Granger had forgotten to charm it locked so that nobody else would claim it.

The rest of the day was pretty much standard stuff. The pipsqueaks were sorted into their new homes for the next seven years; Ron bragging about how being Quiditch Captain for the third year in a row would win them the Quiditch-house cup again; Malfoy and his posse claiming You-know-who would eventually kill him, as if. As mentioned before standard stuff.

Reaching the gargoyle, Junior spoke the password, Bertie Botts every flavour beans, and quickly climbed up the stairs to the Headmaster's office. He was surprised to find that his father was also there along with the other heads of houses and his mother who taught Muggle Studies.

"Ah, young James" Professor Dumbledore greeted him when the teen entered as if seeing an old friend at a social gathering. "I hope you don't mind me taking up a few minutes of your time before you call it a day, do you?"

"Not at all, Professor" Junior replied sounding nonchalant. It was only his first night with Ginny in his new quarters that was being delayed.

"I'm sure Miss Weasley can endure another few minutes without her hero by her side" Snape drawled for all to hear.

"I'd tell you to put a sock in it, _Snivellus_, if I knew _when _they were last washed" James Potter Senior butted in locking eyes with Snape and entering a glaring contest with the potions master before his wife slapped his shoulder.

"Gentlemen" Dumbledore interrupted before another argument could begin. "I have asked you here tonight for a reason other than to rekindle your foolish hatred for one another"

For the life in him, Albus just could not see how James and Severus could _still_ be enemies. True they were rivals for Lily's attention during school and James once risked his life to save Severus from Remus during his furry little problem which somehow escalated their hatred for each other instead of the opposite. Albus had thought that, know matured adults, they would try and be friends for Lily's sake if not their own. This was probably what the muggles mean by wishful thinking.

"With all due respect, sir" James spoke to the Headmaster. "Could you explain why we are here before I do something I won't regret to Severus?"

Lily Evans Potter suddenly found herself fighting back a grin when she saw that the two men who were just previously bickering were suddenly in agreement if only subconsciously. Dumbledore apparently noticed as well as the corner of his mouth was twitching as if he was fighting back a smile himself.

"If you can be patient long enough for our new guests to arrive, all shall be explained" Dumbledore said mysteriously.

As if saying the magic words, what could only be described a hole in time and space appeared before them. Upon becoming the height and width of an average doorway, three figures stepped out of in into the Headmaster's office. As the third figure stepped through, gasps were escaping from several of the rooms tenants as they noticed the resemblances between him and the Boy-who-lived.

_**~#~**_

_Sorry for the shortness of the chapter, I just wanted to get one last chapter done before the end of the year. At least this way, you can start conjecturing what may happen next chapter._

_Happy New Year_

_& 'til next time_

_Watch your back & peace be upon you_


	5. 5th Contract

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

_**~#~**_

_**Sicarius Umbra  
(Assassins of the Shadows)**_

_**~#~**_

"What in the name of Gryffindor is going on here?" James demanded furiously as he pointed an accusing finger at Orphen who just stared back at the wizard trying to keep his anger in check.

He had managed to get an hour off his busy schedule in order to attend an important meeting with Dumbledore at Hogwarts only to find that not only was his wife and Snivelus also included but also his son and now theses three strangers, one of which was trying to impersonate his only son. Very poorly he might add, what with the messy hair and the green eyes. And what was with the bandana?

"James, if you would kindly settle down for a moment" Dumbledore said trying to placate the man before he stirred up something sinister.

"Hot-headed, unafraid to speak his mind, probably stubborn, arrogant and set in his ways; A former Gryffindor if I ever saw one" One of the still hooded figures mused out loud before lowering his hood to reveal an old man probably close to age with the headmaster despite looking like a bald eagle.

"No doubt the apple doesn't fall far from the tree with his son" Mahado muttered as he pulled down his own hood.

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Junior snarled before looking as if he just realised something. "Oh, I get it. You're this old fart's assistants and think everyone else is lower than you"

No sooner had the words left Junior's mouth did he find the points a scythe tipped tentacle and what appeared to be a blade of pure magical energy gently touching his throat. The rest of the people in the meeting stared at the two 'assistants' in a mixture of shock and awe at what they were seeing until Lily, who had been staring at Orphen like she had seen a ghost, spoke up.

"_Caput-tenebrae_ and _Divinus-Draconis_!" She exclaimed when she recognised them from an ancient tome she once read. "Powerful arts that can only be obtained through blood rituals depending on a witch or wizard's elemental sign. But they're supposed to be _extinct_"

"Textbook answer, no doubt very knowledgeable; Definitely a Ravenclaw, my dear" The old man said waving his hand in a dismissive gesture that made Mahado retract the black tentacle back under his cloak whilst Orphen made his magic blade fade into thin air. "Would I also be correct in saying you were, at least, the smartest witch of your year?"

"Accurate observations as always, Solomon" Dumbledore chuckled. "Old age has yet to dull your senses"

"You're one to talk, Albus" Solomon chuckled clasping the Headmaster's hand in one of his own. "That calculating mind of yours still works like that of a skilled chess master a quarter your age, if what my agents tell me is true"

The staff of Hogwarts present in Dumbledore's office could not believe what they were seeing or hearing. It was evident that some explaining was in order and Professor McGonagall was the first person to find their voice and ask it.

"Before I explain anything, I must first introduce you to our guests" Dumbledore replied before motioning to the elder man he called Solomon. "This is Solomon Mehmet, a very old acquaintance of my youth. And the two young men with him are Mahado and Orphen, his most talented pupils to date"

"To heck with their names, Sir!" Junior butted in trying to be both respectful and the exact opposite at the same time. "What the hell are they doing here? And why does that jerk look like me? Poorly I might add!"

Usually a remark like that would have earned a good clap round the ears from his mother, but Lily was too curious about the boy herself. The more she looked at Orphen, the more she felt that she should already know him. Yet the answer to why was teetering just out of reach as if being dangled from a string in front of her but pulled away the instant she got close enough to grab it.

"Is anyone here familiar with the name _Sicarius Umbra_" Dumbledore asked curiously receiving gasps of surprise from Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, Lily Potter and Snape whereas the rest just looked confused. Entitling Solomon to give a little explanation.

Sicarius Umbra, a creed that lived up to its name as _assassins of the shadows_. It was unknown when they were founded, yet rumours had it that they were first the disciples of Merlin himself who then swore to protect the descendants of King Arthur and future spell casters from threats that harmed their existence. As time went on, their ranks grew. So much so that they went on to take on assignments from all corners of the world.

It was not until the start of the thirteenth century that the creed disappeared into the shadows and practically the pages of history to be almost never seen again. The French Minister of that time Raymond Bertrand de Got, who also went by the name Clement V, declared a worldwide purge of all magicks deemed dark. This included blood magic; the art the creed use to conduct members to their ranks and what their speciality would be, providing they lived through it.

Since then, only whispers of the creed were heard and even now it is likely that one in one hundred thousand witches and wizards know even the slightest about them. The only reason the four Professors, other than Dumbledore, had heard about them was due to a muggleborn Lily, James and Snape knew from their own Hogwarts days who thrived on digging up old history; he could have become the new history Professor for Hogwarts had he not moved to New England to live with his fiancé now wife and become a book writer.

'_Dan would flip if he were here'_ Lily mused imagining the look on his face if he were to hear that the creed of the shadows really existed.

"As to why I know them…" Dumbledore began after Solomon had finished his lecture. "I was once a member myself"

Asides from the Potter males, everyone else in the room were not really surprised as they should be at the news. It was probably because it now explained how Dumbledore was powerful enough to defeat Grindelwald. Yet now it begged the question as to why he was 'once' a member and not 'still is'.

When Lily asked the question, she noticed a flash of pain in the wizened headmaster realising that the memory was still painful to him despite the time gap.

"Let's just say that Albus did something of tremendous self-sacrifice on his part that granted him a pardon from service" Solomon stepped before Dumbledore could answer knowing all too well what his old friend had done knowing it would practically kill him inside.

"Regardless of the past, we still do not know why these people are here today" Snape pointed out although his usual edge was dulled as if trying to sound unoffending.

"They have actually been here for over six years already, Severus" Dumbledore answered sounding his usual self again. "Watching over young James Potter Junior"

Both Potter males snorted at this before Junior spoke out.

"You have got to be kidding me" He scoffed. "Do you know how many times, in the past six years, that I have been attacked by You-Know-Who and emerged victorious?"

"I'd rather know if a bullet would hit anything in your head as it goes in through one ear and out the other" Mahado remarked offhand taking out one of his small derringer pistols and twirling it in his hand to prove his point until a look from Solomon made him holster it.

"Are you trying to say my son did none of those things?" James senior demanded angrily as he drew his wand and pointed it at Mahado. "Junior did all those things himself whilst you and your bandana wearing friend watched from the shadows and did nothing to help him. Not that he needed any"

"At least that's what he says" Orphen spoke for the first time. "Unless proven otherwise, you can only go by his word"

Orphen's words seemed to enrage James even more as if declaring that his son was lying about all his accomplishments. In two swift strides, he crossed over to where Orphen was standing and grabbed the front of his robe whilst the wand was jabbed into the lad's chin.

"I don't care who you are or what you can do" James hissed in Orphen's face. "Call my son a liar again, and I will make you regret even pretending to be related to me"

Nobody in the room noticed Mahado wince as Orphen had suddenly moved with such speed that James only realised his wand arm was twisted behind him, threatening to break under any more pressure, and hisown wand was now digging into his throat rather painfully until after it happened.

"And just why would I want to be a part of _your_ family?" Orphen whispered back in almost unmasked fury barely refraining from killing the man before him.

"Stand down, Orphen. He's not worth it" Mahado said calmly as he put a hand on Orphen's shoulder.

Orphen released his hold on the senior Potter and pushed him away rather forcefully so that he almost landed in a heap in front of Snape who was trying not to look as if Christmas had come early.

Whilst this was going on, Lily's mind was going into overdrive. If what the lad called Orphen said was true, then he and his partner had probably done all those things Junior had done during his time here, including making his challenges easier somehow during the Triwizard tournament, and let Junior take the credit. But if that were to be believed then that left her with one very serious, very scary, reality.

"Is something troubling you, Lily?" Dumbledore asked knowing that the woman had probably pieced things together up until this point.

"S-sorry, Sir" She stammered when she realised she was being talked to. "It's just that, if what Mr Orphen's saying is true…" There were angry remarks from her husband and son at that point. "Then…wouldn't that mean that Junior…_is not_ the one stated in the prophesy?"

"That's absurd!" James yelled furiously. "We all know that that bastard came after us because of Junior, and that _only_ Junior was still alive amongst the rubble of our house whereas Voldemorte apparently died!"

"True" Solomon admitted causing James to swell in pride and victory before his next words cut to the bone. "But Tom was _not the only one_ to all but disappear off the face of the earth"

Those words froze Lily to the core as the answer dangling on the proverbial string in front of her was now in her grasp. One look at Orphen's eyes was all it took to confirm things and make her go from frozen to boiling in an instant.

"There had better be a good reason for this" She growled as she drew her wand and focused it on her target. She was about to prove that a mother scarred was more furious than a woman scorned.

_**~#~**_

_Who is Lily targeting?_

_Who is that childhood friend she mentioned? (you get a pat on the back if you can answer that)_

_Find out next time & 'til then_

_Watch your back & peace be upon you!_


	6. 6th Contract

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

_**~#~**_

_**Hiatus Inter  
(The Gap Between)**_

_**~#~**_

"Lily, what are you doing?" James asked as he tried to figure out why his wife was currently pointing her wand at Professor Dumbledore.

"Getting answers" Lily growled both her wand and scowling gaze not wavering any as they trained on the wizard before her.

Her fellow teacher's and son stared at her in shock and astonishment not that she could blame them. Had it been her husband, they would have just rolled their eyes and went on with what they were doing minus Snape who would be watching with hidden glee. The three guests seemed to be mildly amused by the scene before them but that was all the reaction they displayed.

"What answers?" Her husband asked now more confused than before.

"_Harry_"

The name uttered from his wife's lips rang no bells in James' head. There was however a slight rise in Dumbledore's eyebrows which only fuelled the red head's rage even further.

"Well?" Lily said as she prepared to hex one of the most famous wizards of the century, consequences be damned, if it would mean finding out what had truly happened on that fateful Halloween all those years ago.

"Lily, I have no idea _what_ you're talking about" James explained slowly stepping forward and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Junior was our _only son_"

Snape was definitely going to be replaying this memory in his pensieve when this was over. For now he was content with bottling up his glee as he watched his childhood friend send his childhood rival to the floor by a left hand that was practically invisible to the naked eye at the speed it went. The only downside was, due to experiencing the attack first-hand himself, he could not help but sympathize for the bastard who would definitely be feeling like he had just been punched by Hagrid on a good day.

"Then why is Harry standing over there working as an assassin?" Lily screeched as her eyes began filling with tears.

"Sharp as a butcher's knife, this one" Solomon mused not at all surprised about being found out.

Dumbledore sighed sadly. He knew that this day would come sooner or later. Yet despite preparing himself for the possible fallout this meeting would bring, he still felt himself wishing that none of this had ever happened. Before he could begin explaining however, another voice spoke up before him.

"What are you talking about, Mum?" Junior asked looking as if his mother had grown an extra head. "I'm sure I would have known if I ever had a brother or not"

"As if you would ever notice someone outside your limelight, assuming your intelligence is even half that of your mother's" Snape could not help but remark not even having to _pretend_ that all of this spoiled brat's attempts at potion making were troll grade. Assuming they did not blow up beforehand, that is.

"Says the Deatheater who fails all but Slytherins in his classes" Junior retorted glaring at the greasy haired professor as if attempting to challenge him to a duel of wits.

"Is this a meeting or a muggle soap opera?" Orphen asked out loud clearly reaching the end of his patience at being in a room with the three people who despised him most.

"Just get going, I'll fill you in on what you missed tomorrow" Mahado told his former apprentice gesturing with his head to leave knowing what was currently going through his head.

Orphen needed no second telling. Turning round and looking as if to suddenly disappear into thin air, the young assassin was surprised at himself when he halted upon hearing the woman who dared claim to once being his mother called out to him.

"I know that you probably hate me and will never forgive me for abandoning you but…I want you to know that…I'm sorry" Lily was unable to bring herself to say any more than that knowing that she was liable to suddenly break out in tears again at the sight of the son she had supposedly lost.

"Save your breath and excuses for someone who cares, _Woman_!" Orphen snapped coldly before quickly disappearing into thin air causing the Hogwarts professors to gasp in surprise.

Only Solomon, Mahado and Dumbledore were able to catch the look of stunned surprise that had flashed quickly over the young assassin's face before becoming cold again.

"Why the hell did you just apologise to some failure of a doppelganger?" James asked as he finally picked himself off the floor.

Had Lily not suddenly collapsed to her knees as her tears flowed freely down her cheeks, she would have decked him again. Instead she just remained quiet. The force of what Orphen said to her left her feeling more dead and hollow than even the dreaded killing curse.

Rising from his chair, Dumbledore knelt down beside the stricken witch and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. His heart heavier than it had been that day sixteen years ago.

That fateful Halloween, nineteen eighty-one

Tom Riddle had personally attacked the Potters upon hearing part of a prophecy that was believed to cause his downfall. After defeating and stunning the father then knocking the mother out when he banished her to the far wall, Riddle set his sights on the _two_ Potter infants that had begun crying the moment the fighting started.

It was unknown whether Riddle targeted one or both of the two babies, but what happened afterwards shocked and amazed the entire wizarding world even to this day. Somehow the killing curse rebounded and struck Riddle creating a blinding flash of light that left nothing of the dark wizard when it faded minutes later.

It was during this moment before the parents stirred that Dumbledore entered the scene having been alerted by Sirius who had discovered Pettigrew's remains at the marauder's hideout. It was believed that Pettigrew had secretly joined Riddle's order believing he could catch the dark wizard off-guard upon revealing the Potters location. A clean dagger and a burst open carcass was all that was needed to tell the outcome of his attempt. It would be thirteen years later, upon being seen by Junior after the Triwizard trophy sent him to the graveyard in Voldemorte's hometown, that they realised he really had turned on them.

Upon arrival in the twins bedroom, Dumbledore immediately noticed one of the boys glowing slightly causing him to believe that the killing curse had inadvertently awoken the so called "power he knew not" Trelawney had mentioned. Knowing that he had not the skill to help the boy master his power, Dumbledore called in the favour Solomon owed him asking him to take the boy in and train him for the fated battle that was sure to occur in the future.

With Solomon's oath to take in the boy, Dumbledore set his sights on the most heart breaking task he had before him. Instead of telling Lily and James that he had taken away one of their children, he cast a mild short term memory wipe and forgetfulness charms on them that caused them to immediately forget about the boy when they awoke but would wear off over time. It apparently only half worked as James only seemed to have eyes for Junior their remaining child whereas Lily, tonight, had just proven that she still remembered Harry and was damn well pissed about it.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned? Try taking away a mother's child and memory only to have both eventually returned to her: a terrible, drawn out death that no torture curse could ever come close to matching.

"Are you telling me, Albus, is that not only my little boy was the chosen one but you took him away from me and made me forget all about him?" Lily asked having calmed down somewhat over the course of the story.

Dumbledore just nodded his head unable to reply despite knowing that what he had done was for the greater good. A greater good he wished he did not have to do something like this ever again and would gladly accept whatever Lily threw at him spell, object or fist.

No sooner had his head moved a hole appeared in the wall just over his left shoulder by the blasting curse lily just sent singeing the left side of his head. It was insignificant compared to the pain he had put Lily through but that was all he was receiving tonight as Lily had just ran out of the office ignoring the shocked looks following her from everyone else, including her husband and son.

_**~#~**_

"I suppose you think this will be your chance"

Hermione looked up from where she was sitting reading _Standard book of Spells: Grade 7 _to look at Ginny who was standing in the entrance to the head prefect's quarters.

"And what 'chance' would that be exactly?" She asked coolly despite having a certain idea what the red head was talking about.

"Your chance to take _my_ wizard"

The reply almost caused Hermione to snort. Any and all feelings she ever had for the 'Boy-Who-Lived' died the moment he sent her crying into the girl's bathroom six years ago causing her to meet the man who would always be there for her and loved for who she was inside and out.

"By all means, patrol his chambers day and night if you believe I'll try to get between the two of you" Hermione said sarcastically. "It's already impossible for me due to the fact that you two are literally 'joined at the hips' and whatever piece of your skin his mouth's covering"

Her last remark was below belt but startlingly true. Ever since the end of her third year, Hermione had the misfortune of hearing or seeing the 'future Mr and Mrs Potter' as the two of them screwed probably more frequently than rabbits all over the castle. It was either a red head thing or Ginny had inherited the Weasley reproduction gene from her parents.

The remark also had Ginny going for her wand. Hermione was quicker and had drawn her own and summoned Ginny's to her before the younger witch could realise. Leaving the angry red head's wand on her seat as Hermione stood up, taking her book along with her, and headed towards the stairs leading to her own bed chamber ignoring the heat she felt on the back of her head from the younger witch's eyes.

Upon entering her chamber, which had its own bookcase that filled one wall, Hermione stripped herself of all clothing and placed her wand under her pillow for easy reach. Normally she would have left on her knickers and put on a nightshirt but her witches intuition told her that something wrong was with her other half.

Not minutes after sitting down on the edge of her bed, Orphen appeared out of nowhere. Never before had she seen him looking so distraught, confused.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly pulling him into a tight embrace.

"She said she was sorry" He muttered unresisting as Hermione banished his clothes with a flick of her wand as he rested his head against her chest confusion clear in his voice.

Hermione could not blame him. All this time, Orphen had believed that he had been abandoned by his parents never thinking that his mother, in her heart of hearts, would ever abandon and forget about him.

Pulling lightly as she lay back on her bed, Hermione charmed the quilt to cover them both before stashing her wand underneath her pillow before focusing her attention on calming the confused boy in her arms.

_**~#~**_

_Sorry if you were waiting long for an update although I'm sure there were probably plenty other H/Hr fics to keep you intrigued. I hope._

_I'll try to update again before the year is out. Until then_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you._


	7. 7th Contract

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

_Fraid this chapter is a bit short. Sorry if you're upset._

_**~#~**_

_**Prolusio ut Preteritus  
(Prelude to the Past)**_

_**~#~**_

Sitting on his thrown looking both calm and intimidating on the outside, Lord Tom Marvolo Riddle, aka Lord Voldemorte, was fuming on the inside as he watched the two death eaters before him try not to piss themselves as they attempted to tell him what they found out about what happened to Dolohov and an entire battalion of followers.

"Well?" He asked of the two his red eyes reduced to slits as he watched them squirm under his gaze.

"W-We m-ma-managed to track down the mudblood, my Lord" One of them finally spoke. "Un-unfortunately, when we broke in and took care of her protectors, she had just came out of the shower and we couldn't help but use our-ahem-_other wand_ to torture her"

Voldemorte flexed the fingers of his wand hand slowly as he listened to the babbling fool. He did not need to enter the snivelling wretch's mind to see what had happened next nor did he want to.

"And did the mudblood talk?"

The death eater hesitated, whatever colour in his already pale features fading completely away.

"We were…em…too preoccupied to notice the girl slit her wrist until it was too late" The death eater nervously replied before closing his eyes and bracing himself for the cruciatus curse.

A scream echoed throughout the chamber as, swift as lightning, Voldemorte drew his wand and cast, not the cruciatus curse but the summoning charm instead. The death eater writhed on the ground as he clutched at the hole where his manhood had once been failing to staunch the flow before he bled to death. His accomplice, barely registering that he had now pissed himself, took off running barely making ten steps towards the doors to the chamber before his body collapsed to the ground blood gushing like a fountain from where his head once was.

"Our youngest generation of purebloods seem to think more with a different part of their anatomy than their heads" Voldemorte hissed turning his gaze onto one of his inner circle who was standing off to the right.

"Forgive me, my Lord" Lucius Malfoy said as he moved to stand in front of the throne of the Dark Lord. "They seemed eager for the job. I had thought that they were merely hoping to please you"

"Me? Or themselves?" Voldemorte countered his tone colder than the chamber as he rose. "We have just lost a valuable member of our inner circle, yet instead of getting Rookwood to use his connections to find out what happened, you send two _infants_ who do nothing more than satisfy their own needs!"

Lucius Malfoy threw himself at his Lord's feet knowing that pain was swift to follow his words. He did not have to wait long before he found himself grinding his teeth as the Dark Lord placed him under the cruciatus curse for a good five minutes before letting up.

"Fail me again, Malfoy, and I assure you death will be a welcoming embrace once I'm done with you" Voldemorte warned before aiming his wand at Lucius's left eye. "_Accio_"

The screams that followed echoed throughout the entire manor.

_**~#~**_

"Well, that could have gone worse" Mahado mused as he observed the scenery from atop the astronomy tower.

"On the contrary, it could have been better" Solomon argued grinning childishly. "I was hoping that girl would have slugged old Albus right in the kisser"

Mahado quirked an eyebrow at his master unsure how to take that comment. Solomon noticed and cackled unabashed before explaining how, when he and Albus were partners, Albus would always return from a mission without a scratch whilst he always ended up injured no matter how minor the wound.

"Perhaps you were just old before your time" Mahado suggested not even flinching at the stern look he was now getting from his master.

With a thirst for danger, where the riskier the mission the greater the thrill, Mahado had a penchant for toeing the line almost earning himself the death sentence several times had he not been one of the most skilled assassins of his generation. Solomon was certain that, had he had his way, Mahado would just stroll his way into Malfoy manor, Voldemorte's current layer and kill every death eater he could see until he was either victorious or killed himself.

"So what's the plan now?" Mahado asked becoming more serious. "Better be more interesting than last year"

"Well, if you are looking for something to pass the time, there are a couple of items Dumbledore managed to locate that you could take care of" Solomon suggested.

"Are they dangerous?" Mahado asked his curiosity stirring.

"They're valuable artefacts Tom used to house a piece of his soul, what do you think?"

_**~#~**_

Hermione was unsure of the time but reckoned it to be passed midnight before her lover finally calmed down and succumbed to the fatigue brought upon by the hysteria of knowing that at least one of his parents cared about him.

As he lay against her, the steady beat of her heart whispering a lullaby in his ear, Hermione allowed one of her hands to stroke gently through his mane of untamed black locks as she stared down into his peaceful features. She was one of two people who ever saw him cast off his cold hearted façade and become the true child that he was.

She was unaware of what had happened between Harry and his _family_ just hours before, but had a feeling that whatever had happened was bound to stir up the Cornish pixie nest this year at Hogwarts. If not between him and his parents', then certainly with his so called brother who would definitely be doing all he could to prove that he was the true boy-who-lived.

"I had a feeling I'd find him here"

Eyes quickly darting to the door of her room, the blood in Hermione's face was unsure whether to flood or drain away due to the person who had just entered the room or that she was caught naked in bed with an equally naked male on top of her and using her as a pillow.

"P-Professor" She squeaked quietly trying not to wake up the man in her arms.

_***~#~***_

_Hope the cliffy will keep you hooked for a while. Again, sorry for the shortness and for the fact that this'll be the last update for this fic this year. With Christmas coming up, my job's heck of a lot more time consuming. _

_Review if possible & 'til next time_

_Watch your back & peace be upon you!_


	8. 8th contract

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

_**~#~**_

_**Primoris Placitum**_

_**~#~**_

Preferring to assume the worst rather than experience it, Hermione had firmly believed that being caught in bed with Harry by her parents would be the most embarrassing to ever happen to her. It was now knocked from its spot by being caught by Harry's parents which, by all accounts, was rarer than Luna's crumple horned Snorkack walking into the great hall.

Yet it still happened.

"H-how did you know he would be here, Professor?" Hermione asked in what she hoped was a calm voice as she tried to cover herself up whilst not smothering Harry in the process.

"It's said that Potter males are supposedly attracted to the smartest witch of their age, regardless of how beautiful they are" Lily explained as she stepped away from the shadow of the doorway and into the light of the glowing embers of the small fireplace.

Hermione instantly noticed that the elder woman had been crying by her red puffy eyes. She could not blame her. Having realised that one of her children that was supposed to have died suddenly reappear in her life only to treat her colder than the surrounding terrain of Durmstrang would be quite the tear jerker.

"Does this mean that..?" Hermione left her question hanging. If the Professor knew that she would find Harry here with her, how long _had_ she known about them?

To her surprise, Lily smiled softly at her as if reading her mind and shook her head.

"I've always wondered how and why you seemed to be coming out of your shell and becoming the confident, headstrong witch you are today since after what happened in your first year" She explained sitting on the edge of the bed and looking at Hermione making sure she did not look at Harry in fear of bursting into tears again. "When we were told that Harry had been shadowing Junior since he started, I just took a gamble and decided to come here and see if I was right"

And once again, Lily Potter nee Evans had just shown Hermione why she had been the smartest witch of her generation. Despite her involvement with Harry, Hermione had already admired and even idolised the woman because she had been a muggleborn like herself and had climbed the ladder to become the Professor of Muggle Studies bravely attempting to bring the wizarding world into the twentieth century. An admirable yet herculean task that she would never give up on despite efforts by Pureblood bigots to dissuade her.

"Bet you were relieved at least one of your sons followed the tradition" Hermione could not help but blurt out before realising what she had just said. "I mean if…Well, that is to say…"

Lily cut her off by chuckling in agreement even though it tore at her wounded heart to know that she had missed so much of her other child's life. That is not to say that she disapproved of Junior's relationship with Miss Weasley. She could clearly see that the two loved each other but barely had enough restraint to keep out of each other's arms during classes. Were they to focus on their school work as much as each other, the two could probably be closer to Hermione's study level and perhaps even give the witch a run for her money.

"As long as he's happy" The Professor muttered barely audible as she looked lovingly at her former son.

"You're not going to ask for his forgiveness?" Hermione asked in surprise subconsciously hugging Harry tighter to her bosom.

Lily shook her head. "To rebuild a bridge, you sometimes have to remove the remains first. If he can at least start _talking_ to me without the harshness, I'll be happy with that"

She made a good point. Given the way Harry treated Lily in the Headmaster's office, Hermione did not know how it went but had a good idea of what happened, the Professor had a better chance getting closer to her estranged son if they treated each other as strangers and worked their way up the ladder. Of course, that was assuming Harry was okay with that.

"But what if he doesn't?" Hermione asked cautiously despite knowing that it was none of her business.

"Then…I'll just have to accept it" Lily hesitantly admitted managing to look at her son without bursting into tears no doubt wondering how she could ever have forgotten about her own son.

Fidgeting slightly as an awkward silence permeated the room, Hermione gently bit her lip before quietly asking the Professor a question that was sure to distract them for a while.

"Would you like me to tell you about what he's done?" The question drew a surprised and shocked look from the Professor whose eyebrows leapt into her hair.

"Are you sure it's okay for you to tell me?" Lily asked clearly eager to hear about her son's exploits, no matter how dark, but at the same time not wanting to destroy the bond between the two.

Hermione shook her head before telling Lily about how Harry had never actually asked her to keep silent about his work and that she had promised it herself. She had not even told her parents about whom her boyfriend was let alone what he did for a living. Because of this, as well as the increasing amount of Harry's escapades in Hogwarts, Hermione dearly wanted to talk about what he had done to someone she could trust before she inadvertently blabbed to the wrong person.

"And I'm sure you want to know what Harry has been doing, as well as what _really_ happened on certain occasions" Hermione could not help but grin as she watched her Professor squirm slightly as a guilty look crossed her face when she added that last part.

"Well I am curious about what happened to that troll" Lily admitted. "No matter what they said, there's no way two first years could have knocked off the head of a mountain troll with its own club. Their skull's _thick__er than their weapons_"

"Not unless _someone else_ took care of it" Hermione countered in an I-know-something-you-don't voice.

_~~~Thursday__ the __31__st__of October __1991~~~_

A twelve year old Hermione could not help but look a little smug as she became the first person to levitate her feather and earn her house another point. Had the moron she had for a partner, Ron Weasley, listened to her instead of swinging his arms like a windmill whilst pronouncing it wrong, he might have gotten it as well.

Not even the Boy-Who-Lived had managed to get his feather to rise and he was supposed to be the most powerful of their year. In fact, the only student to get a reaction out of their feather apart from her was Seamus Finnegan who combusted his.

When the end bell rang some half hour later, Hermione took her time packing away her books to ensure they were not damaged before following her Gryffindor classmates towards the great hall for lunch. She had just caught up to them when she heard Weasley's voice from the head of the group.

"It's _levi-oh-sa_, not _lev-eo-sah" _The red head said in a high pitch apparently trying to mimic her advice to him during class. "It's no wonder why she doesn't have any friends"

"She's probably trying to go for you because she knows she doesn't have a chance with me" Potter joked causing the rest of the boys in their group to laugh at the look of horror on Weasley's face.

"Not bloody likely!" He exclaimed. "She's a nightmare!"

At that point, the girl in question could not take anymore and barrelled her way through the group as she ran towards the nearest toilets. Had she not been upset by their words, she would have realised that, in her haste to get away from them, she had bowled over the Boy-Who-Lived and his best friend causing the two to curse as the rest of the group laughed at them.

Reaching the first floor toilets, Hermione locked herself in the first available cubicle there was and cried her eyes out ignoring several of her female housemates who had heard about what had happened and tried to coax her out of hiding. One of them even said that Ron Weasley was 'all mouth no magic' and that he would be no better than Malfoy had he not been best friends with James Potter Junior.

It must have been near dinner time when she finally managed to bring herself out of the cubicle she had commandeered for the better part of the afternoon. Wiping at her eyes one last time before heading towards the sinks to clean herself up, Hermione stopped as she saw something big, foul smelling and wielding a massive club that could easily crush her in one blow.

Reacting in the manner all smart, twelve year old witches would when encountering a mountain troll, Hermione screamed before dashing back into the cubicle instinctively ducking before the club came crashing through the cubicle wall and several others in a horizontal swipe. Crawling through the wreckage, Hermione made her way down the line of cubicles curling up briefly each time the club smashed through another cubicle and showered her in huge splinters of wood.

Her luck seemed to be dwindling fast as she quickly reached the end of the row of cubicles and had, in a brief moment of recklessness, attempted to quickly crawl across the floor to take cover underneath the row of sinks on the opposite wall in an attempt to hide as she made her way towards the bathroom door. She saw it in slow motion. The club slowly crawled in its arc towards her, intent on pulverising her into the wall.

The next moment, a pair of arms as skinny as hers wrapped around her waist and, from what she could gather, transported them to the other side of the bathroom as the club smashed into the ground where she was previously.

Collapsing in a pile as her saviour let go of her, Hermione could only watch as the robed figure raised an open hand at the troll and muttered something in Latin. The next second, the troll's head was knocked clean off its shoulders with the body teetering in place for several seconds before finally falling over with a crash that shook the whole room.

The tremors had barely stopped before Hermione, not even registering the fact that someone her age just did a spell well advanced for his year and _without_ a wand, stood up practically leapt at her hero in a tackling hug. The boy in question was caught off-guard and was unprepared for the girl suddenly wrapping her arms round his neck and kissing him on the cheek.

"Get off!" He practically shouted shoving Hermione off of him.

"I'm sorry" Hermione apologised after collecting herself. Here was the first person who seemed to actually care for her and here she was acting like a bubbly schoolgirl.

Calming herself down, Hermione looked up at her saviour once more only to freeze up. Whilst the boy disappeared into thin air, his image was burned into Hermione's memory. From what she could see of him out of his jet black robe, call her crazy but he looked the spitting image of renowned auror James Potter but with Lily Potter's piercing green eyes.

_***#~#~#***_

_First update of the New Year. Hope you liked it_

_Review if possible & until next time_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you._


	9. 9th Contract

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**~#~**

_**Quisnam es Vos?**_

**~#~**

The moment the weekend rolled round, Hermione immediately made a beeline to her sanctuary after breakfast. Thursday night, as well as Friday, had been hectic to say the least.

Not moments after her mysterious saviour had vanished from the bathroom, the Boy-Who-Lived and his sidekick barged into the room stopping dead in their tracks the moment they saw the decapitated troll. They were soon followed by several of the teachers including Professor Potter yet before Hermione could explain anything, Junior quickly spoke up claiming that they had been on their way to apologise to her for what had happened after class when the troll came at her and he had just 'instinctively' released his magic at the creatures club which was swinging down upon the 'helpless witch' causing it to collide with its own head and sending it clean across the room.

Had Hermione not been so stunned and flabbergasted at the blatant lie, she would have claimed he was lying but was instead directed back to her dormitory where Junior's tale had already reached the students ears and immediately leapt upon the hero celebrating his latest of achievements in his short life. If that was not bad enough, students were coming to her asking what it was like to be personally 'saved' by their saviour and that she should be grateful that he was around at the time.

Now that Saturday was upon them, Hermione had managed to slip away from the masses asking about how the Boy-Who-Lived had saved her and how she was going to thank him and was now inside the library. It was not to finish off her homework, she holed herself up in her dorms completing all tasks to date last night to avoid attention, but rather to find out about her mysterious saviour with an uncanny resemblance to James Potter Senior with Lily Potter's eyes.

The only reasons she could come up with for the boy's appearance was that either he was related to them in some way or he had been magically altered to resemble the Boy-Who-Lived with obvious differences. It took hours of research but eventually, in the Daily Prophet Omnibus 1980 volume, Hermione discovered that Junior had a twin named Harry James Potter which enforced her first theory until she discovered his name again in the 1981 volume under deaths. The same day Junior became the magical world's saviour.

Undaunted by this hiccup, Hermione pressed on. This time focusing on the pendant that had hung around the boy's neck. It consisted of a crossed sword and wand with a small dragon perched on the pommels with its wings extended and was noticed only because the young witch accidently tugged the chain when she was thrown off the boy revealing it to the light of day. It took until Sunday afternoon-she had to leave come closing time after being chased off by Madame Pince- but Hermione finally managed to find something related to it in a book detailing the cults and creeds during Merlin's time.

The pendent was the symbol of a creed known, in those times, as _Sicarius Umbra_ the Assassins of the Shadows. In laymen's terms, they were a group of assassins who watched over the magical population protecting it from those that would seek to harm or expose them. According to the history books, the creed should have been wiped out on the original Friday the thirteenth. Hermione's only explanation to why they still existed was that they became their namesake living in the shadows, striking from the shadows. They could well possibly be why people feared the unknown.

While her findings sated her curiosity, it still did nothing to explain neither who he really was nor why he was here. The only way she would be able to find that out was by asking him herself. Yet, to do that, she would have to find him which was the equivalent to finding a needle in a haystack given to the size of the castle and the fact that she could only remember the way to the library, her classes, the great hall and her house dormitory.

While most people would have just given up at this point, Hermione pressed on despite knowing what she was doing was akin to trying to bottle lightning. Over the next few weeks, after classes, she would explore the castle and surrounding grounds taking mental notes of where everything was and the places the mysterious boy would likely hide and conceal himself until the time to act came upon him.

Not once did she consider that the boy may have just been passing through en route to another place or target and that their meeting was just a, very lucky, coincidence. No, Hermione knew, in her heart of hearts, that the boy was still in the castle somewhere despite the purpose of such eluding her for the time being.

It was not until the end of the third week, did she finally find something. Or rather, someone found her.

She had been searching a corridor near the entrance to the astronomy tower when she heard something behind her. Whirling round, Hermione saw nothing but an empty corridor. Turning back round, the young witch started when she found herself standing point blank in front of a gun barrel.

"I have to give you credit, no one's ever continued this long trying to find us before giving up" The gun's wielded confessed covered from head to toe in a black robe identical to the one the boy wore but with the hood up obscuring his face in shadow so that Hermione could not see it. "Especially one as young as you"

Hermione was beyond scared. Not one month after her first dance with death, she was in another. If this kept up it was highly probable that she would _never_ graduate from Hogwarts.

"A-Are you going to…kill me?" She asked almost inaudible for the cloaked man to hear.

The cloaked man chuckled before twirling and holstering the small pistol like an old fashioned gunslinger.

"If I did, my apprentice wouldn't be able to ask why you're trying to find him" He replied indicating the area behind the witch before disappearing into thin air.

Complying, Hermione jumped when she found that someone was standing right behind her; someone who was familiar to her in more ways than one.

"Honestly!" She cursed feeling like her heart was about to burst from the amount of times she had someone magically appear from nowhere in front of her. "Is it customary for you lot to appear right behind someone's shoulder?"

"Why are you trying to find me?" The boy asked not the least bit intimidated by the glare Hermione was giving him. "You should have just given up after what you discovered in the library"

At his words, Hermione suddenly felt everything click into place.

"Holy cricket!" She gasped quietly almost not believing what she had just discovered. "Y-you really _are_-"

"Do not finish that sentence!" The boy practically snarled causing Hermione to take a step away from him.

"I-I'm sorry" Hermione quickly apologised not wanting to die by mentioning what was clearly a taboo to him despite the fact that she was clearly right in her assumptions. "W-what should I call you then"

The boy looked at her in masked confusion and curiosity. Asides his fellow assassin's, who knew, respected and admired him, no one had ever tried to get to know him.

"Orphen" He growled after a few moments causing the witch to smile for reasons unknown to him.

"Well then, _Orphen_" Hermione began happy to finally know her saviour's name. "Thank you for rescuing me from the troll"

This time, Orphen was unable to hide his surprise at the girl. She had spent nearly a month trying to find him just to _thank_ him properly? Perhaps _he_ was right in saying that she was weird. True, he had experienced some strange and terrifying things during his short life, but this was easily taking the cake. And yet, something about her could not help but draw him closer almost as if he were bewitched by the witch.

"You went through all that trouble just to thank me? Why?" He asked too curious to just leave it at that.

"Why did you save me?" Hermione countered. A good point as she knew she was not important enough to be saved by someone who was supposed to be nothing more than a target's shadow.

"Because _he's_ ruined enough people's lives without adding to the list!" Orphen spat out in way of an explanation.

Hermione just nodded in response quickly piecing together that Orphen was talking about Junior and that he was probably, for reasons she did not know, assigned to watch over the famous wizard in training. Or should that be _supposedly_ famous wizard in training? There was no doubt that, underneath that red bandana Orphen was wearing, there was the possibility of a scar just like Junior's. She wisely decided to attempt solidifying that conjecture another day preferably _after_ she had become more familiar with him and vice-versa.

"Would you like me to help you?" She asked tenderly a plan already forming on how to get to know the boy called Orphen in her mind.

Once again, Orphen had been caught off-guard by the witch before him. He could not help but smile as he suddenly realised the why behind her question.

"You believe that, because you're in the same house as him, you'll be able to keep an eye on him for most of the day then report back to me, right?" He asked feeling pleased with himself at getting the young witch to stare at him in surprise and dismay at being figured out so quickly.

"I figured that you would appreciate it as you would have less time to watch over someone you hate" Hermione explained before adding in a quiet whisper. "And I want to get to _know_ you better"

Orphen, however, heard it clearly as well as seeing her cheeks blush slightly at her admittance. "You mean it's not your way of proving that you won't talk about us?"

"Who would believe me?" Hermione countered. "But, if it makes you feel better: I promise not to speak of you, or your organisation, to anyone until my dying breath"

Orphen stared at the young girl unable to fathom why she would willingly want to help him keep tabs on someone he would rather kill in the next opportune moment. There was definitely something about this girl that drew him to her and he, despite how strange it sounded to himself, was starting to feel something for her although he had no idea what.

"Your last breath had better be a long time away" He said after a while offering his hand. "Because I would not mind getting to know you too"

Hermione was unable to contain herself. Instead of shaking the offered appendage, she once again leapt at the boy wrapping her arms around his waist. Despite the shock at once again being caged in the girl's arms, Orphen cautiously put his own around Hermione's shoulders quite unsure as to why she did this. He would have to ask Mahado- no, scratch that, he would ask Hermione the next time they met.

_~~~Present Day~~~_

"Just like that?" Lily asked incredulously finding it hard to believe what she had just been told. "He accepted you without even thinking about it?"

Hermione could only smile in embarrassment. Looking back on that day, she had to admit that she had been very foolish, not to mention stupid, to just go around looking for someone who could snuff her life as easily as blowing one's nose thinking that she could just ask for their friendship. In all honesty, she was amazed that it worked after finally getting over the key objective of the moment.

"I guess he saw something about me that made him want to know about me" She replied despite it sounding weak even to her ears.

Lily just shook her head. The two teens before her had unknowingly bonded to one another on that day they had actually met face to face. She was unable to hold back the smile at their blissful ignorance over the matter and felt sad that she was unable to witness it due to obvious reasons.

"Why don't we just leave it there for now?" Lily suggested after collecting herself. "We both have busy schedules tomorrow and are going to need all the energy we can muster. Preferably without wasting it on more _enjoyable_ means"

If she was younger, Hermione would have protested saying that learning _was_ enjoyable. However, with the subtle glance the Professor sent Orphen's way when she said that, all Hermione could do was do her house colours proud by blushing beet red as said Professor vacated the room.

"Did you have to tell her about me?"

"_Honestly!_" Hermione swore unable to stop herself from starting as her love's voice spoke up. She had known him since first year yet he could _still_ catch her off-guard on occasion.

"Well?" Orphen asked lifting his head from Hermione's breasts so he could look into her eyes. He was angry at her, yes, for talking to that woman about him but also curious at the same time.

"She wanted to _know_ you, Orphen, even if it meant starting from scratch, as _strangers_" Hermione explained shuffling underneath him so that she could wrap her arms more comfortably around him. "You said it yourself: she said she was sorry for what you had to go through, even if you _don't_ forgive her. The least I could do was to give her a starting point"

Orphen stared at her for a long moment before leaning in and kissing her heatedly. Hermione responded in kind tightening the grip her arms and legs had on his torso as she felt one of his hands wander down her lower back while the other cradled the back of her head.

"What did I ever do to deserve you, Hermione?" He asked as the two came up for air. Throughout their time together, from that fateful day onwards, the girl he had come to love had managed to open him more and more until he was able to accept things more easily without kicking up a fuss about it.

Hermione could only reply by kissing him again unable to answer any other way at the moment. It was only after their positions had reversed and she was now on top with her head nestled against his neck, was she able to reply as fatigue began to consume her.

"You accepted me as your _friend_"

**#~#~#~#~#**

_Forgot to mention this in chapter 6, but well done to __**Zao **__for correctly guessing __that it was __Dan Brown__ whom Lily was talking about. _

_Review if possible and 'til next time_

_Watch your back & peace b__e upon you!_


	10. 10th Contract

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**~#~**

_**Verum Maledictus Cicatrix**_

**~#~**

"How many more are there?" Mahado swore as he continued shooting at the inferi in front of him while the rest of the walking dead were being dealt with by the darkness inside of him. All around him, a large number of bodies lay either in pieces or without their heads yet it still did not stop the rest of the horde from advancing.

Not too long ago, the gun mage had arrived at the location of what the information promised to be a piece of Voldemort's very soul which appeared to be a huge cliff face overlooking the sea. After finally locating the entrance and going through-who would have thought a door could be fifteen inches of solid bedrock- Mahado found himself on the edge of an underground oasis complete with a small island with a strange fountain in its centre.

It did not take long for him to realise that the pool was practically filled to the brim with inferi-living corpses with enough brain left in them to obey their creator's order or just tear apart anything living within their reach. In this case it was the latter the moment Mahado teleported over the pool but landed just short and struck the pool's edge with his heal.

It was enough to stir the hoard and, while it was enjoyable for the first couple of hours, Mahado was now more than frustrated at the seemingly endless supply of targets. Even his dark creatures were beginning to get tired of the all-you-can-rip-off buffet.

"_Mare Flamma_!"

Mahado only registered the voice as to meaning that someone else, someone still alive, was here with him. He did not realise exactly who until he was practically engulfed in flames along with the rest of the inferi horde.

Within moments, the fire disappeared as quickly as it had come leaving Orphen to gaze at the dried up crater where the pool had once been that was now littered with crumbling charcoal corpses. Minus the one that had suddenly got up and began walking towards him regenerating itself into a person he was familiar with already cursing despite its vocals not repaired yet.

"Ohr rooh ah hannny idea how much that hurts?" Mahado swore as his body recreated itself thanks to his powers regenerative ability. It was a boon providing there were ample shadows about for his minions to feed off of.

"You survived it, didn't you?" Orphen countered.

"Smart ass" Mahado grumbled as Orphen walked passed him towards the blackened fountain. There was one time when the former apprentice of his just remained quiet.

_~~~August 1990~~~_

"You wanted to see me, Boss?" Mahado asked as he entered Mehmet's office.

He immediately noticed the young boy standing beside Mehmet's desk. The boy was a bit on the scrawny side but there was no hiding those vibrant green eyes under the mop of jet black hair, nor the lightning bolt scar that seemed to be giving off a death aura if his senses were properly attuned.

"Yes, Mahado" Mehmet nodded before indicating the young boy. "I have brought you here to introduce you to Harry, your _apprentice_"

Mahado was sure he was hearing things. This little brat had survived the blood ritual? Normally those who wished to become true assassins needed to be at least fourteen before putting themselves up for the blood ritual that would awaken the power sleeping inside of them assuming they believed themselves ready for it. Even after that, they still needed to practice on using their new found abilities before even being deemed ready for apprenticeship.

Mahado himself had only come out of apprenticeship several months earlier yet had shown such prowess and skill with his darkness that he rose through the ranks of the assassins to become one of their top operatives. He did not need a snot nosed brat slowing him down.

"Aren't I a little young to be handling greenhorns?" He asked of his boss indeed curious as to why he had been chosen for an important job he should not be doing due to his reputation as a risk taker.

"True, but young Harry here requested that he was given the best we had" Mehmet chortled. "He was quite adamant that I did or he would just go it alone without the training"

Mahado's eyebrows rose considerably at this piece of information. Whoever this boy was, he had something to prove and was not going to let anything stop him from succeeding. He had to admit, he was now curious if this boy would go the distance or burn out before he go there.

"Just to let you know, you're my first apprentice. Slow me down, then you'll be catching up on your own" Mahado advised grinning slightly.

Harry just nodded.

_~~~10 months later ~ June 1991~~~_

"They really must be taking the mickey with this quest" Mahado stated as he read over the scroll detailing their next assignment. "An S-rank assignment for nothing more than a babysitting job for the next _seven years? _Even watching over the Ministers during the International Wizarding Committtee meet last week was only a C"

Harry just kept silent although the look in his eye told his teacher all he needed to know about how he felt about the mission. Not long after accepting the apprenticeship, Mahado did a little digging into young Harry's past and was amazed at what he found. Perhaps this was what spurned the young boy to master his blood art so quickly. Becoming just as good as him, he might add.

"I know you wanted a good job, but we could easily trade this for another one if you want" He suggested to the young boy.

"We'll take it" Harry answered. "I'm not going to let _him_ slow us down"

"You sure?" Mahado asked slightly surprised that Harry would accept a job that would literally reunite him with his past. "What if, even though I highly doubt it, someone recognises you?"

"They won't" Harry declared confidently bringing out a strip of red cloth and tying it over his scar like a bandana. "Harry Potter is gone, killed in October of eighty-one by Voldemort. I am but an orphan like all the other members of the order. I am _Orphen_"

_~~~Present Day~~~_

"It's not a horcrux" Orphen stated lifting up the locket to examine it in the faint light of the cavern. "There's not even a residue of death on it"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Mahado swore. "I went on a zombie killing spree for a piece of cheap plastic?"

"That's what you've been doing since the meeting last night?" Orphen asked with a cocked eyebrow.

It pretty much summed up what Mahado had been doing. He had been given the location of two pieces of Voldemort's split soul and was ordered to investigate them to see if there really was anything there. And he was still on the first piece when Orphen showed up.

"Well it's not like _my_ girl practically lives next door to our objective" Mahado retorted as the two exited the underground layer.

_**~#~**_

"Are you certain of this Rookwood?" Voldemort asked of his spy in the Ministry. As one of the heads of the multitude of departments*, the death killer had more connections and leeway than most of the other employees.

"I'm afraid so, my Lord" Rookwood confirmed from where he knelt. "The mudblood that Dolohov was honouring with his seed was indeed the only person to actually witness the assassin. Had Malfoy asked for me to take care of things instead of those rookies, we may have found something to ascertain the identity of our enemy"

Voldemort growled in his throat. Whoever this new enemy was, they were a complete mystery to him all thanks to the blunderings of Lucius Malfoy robbing him of the only possible clue to their identity, until they made their next move at least. A mere moment in the mudblood's mind would have shown him the assailant and perhaps who they were working for. Were they working for the old fool Dumbledore, or were they a different faction altogether?

If they were the latter, then maybe he could _persuade_ them to work for him and only him for the rest of their lives. Providing of course they gave him the ones who murdered Dolohov to torture and kill at his leisure otherwise he would just wipe them off the face of the earth one by one very painfully to instil fear into those yet to face death at his hands.

The Dark Lord's pleasant day dream was cut short when a splitting pain shot through his entire body. There was no doubt in his mind that this pain was brought about by the destruction of one of his Horcruxes and that this new enemy was behind this as not even the old fool Dumbledore knew of them yet.

Hiding his pain behind a mask of cold fury, Voldemort ordered Rookwood to go and fetch Greyback and Macnair a pair of his inner circle that brought true meaning to the phrase 'seek and destroy'. This new faction might have had a chance of redemption, but to destroy a piece of his soul was nothing more than declaring war and their demise on their heads.

_**~#~**_

The first day of term always seemed to go the slowest in Hermione's beliefs. It was normally full of the Professors explaining what would be happening throughout the year and what sort of things they would be getting up to for at least the first half before going over what they learned last year for the second.

For _Newt_ year, this basically meant being warned that this year was not only their last but they would be practically pressing the pupils faces to the grindstone in a final attempt to teach them something before they go out into the world on their own. Not a single swish of a wand throughout classes.

Hermione reckoned she could have probably learned more today by skimming over her notes of the last six years at Hogwarts and seeing if she could find a way to improve the spells or potions within, although the other students have described her _notebooks_ being more in size and depth to those thick phonebooks muggles called the Coloured Pages.

Because she could not bring her notebooks with her, Hermione had to endure the torture of not learning anything for the day. It was second worse only to the 'extremely long' wait for her test results and boy did she drive her parents up the wall during the wait until her _Owls_. Heaven help those who she considers friends and family during the wait for her _Newt_ results.

And so, to relax her after going through such a torturous day, she was doing exactly what she could have done during classes in the head dorms claiming the two-seater sofa and the coffee table in front of it and began pouring over the 'tomes' that held her notes since first year. She was halfway through her notes for fourth year when she noticed that someone was hovering over her shoulder.

"I'm not going to do any of your homework this year, Junior" Hermione said knowing that he would ask what he did the start of every year despite receiving the same reply he asked it.

"Even if I did go to school here, I would do my own homework. Probably better than you, I might add"

Hermione immediately forgot about her notes as she whipped round to look at Orphen who, for the past five minutes, had been watching her as she poured over her notes. She was completely surprised as she usually got together with him once a week at best, yet this was the third time in a row.

"Not that I don't appreciate the extra attention, but why are you back here again?" She asked before noticing the look of pain he was trying to mask in her presence. Over the years she had known him, Hermione had only seen him in pain like this only a few times.

_~~~S__un__day __15__th__ of March 1992~~~_

She could not sleep. It was understandable given what happened to her last night.

She had kept her promise to Orphen and kept an eye on Junior whenever she had the chance despite the fact that it did cut into time she could have probably reading over an interesting tome. It was actually pretty easy as Junior and Ron would spend most of the time in the Gryffindor common room playing chess or other games other than doing their homework which they tried several times to dump on her to do in return for saving her life back in October to no success.

And then, two weeks earlier, as she was entering the library to return some of her books, she caught sight of Hagrid browsing through the shelves which contained books about dragons if her memory served her right. Knowing that Junior and Ron were closer to the friendly giant than most, Hermione found and asked them why he was looking at dragon books and was rewarded with the two looking at each other with grim looks.

After a brief explanation from Junior about Hagrid's fondness for creatures that were normally lethal for normal people and that the groundskeeper had once mentioned that he always wanted a dragon, the three of them headed down to Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest to find out the truth. They discovered a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon hatchling within seconds upon entering.

The next two weeks were spent trying to persuade Hagrid to release it to Ron's elder brother Charlie who was a dragon tamer. After persuading him and planning the pickup without anyone's notice, the three of them successfully pulled it off. At least, until Professor McGonagall showed up along with Draco Malfoy who had somehow overheard what they were doing and decided to rat out on them. It backfired when he was given detention alongside them in the Forbidden Forest.

That night, or rather tonight, Hermione once again thought she was not going to live to see her graduation when she and Ron discovered a dead unicorn being feasted on by some _creature_ in a black cloak that was sucking the silvery liquid bleeding from the wound in the beast's neck. While Ron did the sensible thing and ran in the opposite direction, Hermione could not get her legs to respond and could only watch as the creature came towards her with the unicorn blood still smeared over its face.

At that moment, a barrage of spell bullets rained down between Hermione and the creature forcing it to float away while she fell backwards into a familiar pair of arms. She had completely forgotten that Orphen and his partner would be with them due to Junior's presence in the group until this point.

After making sure she was okay, which was no more than him asking and her replying, Orphen followed after his partner who was pursuing the creature leaving her to be found by Hagrid, Ron and Junior not minutes later. Naturally, the delinquent duo believed that the creature escaped after sensing Junior's powerful magic and fled like a coward.

Now back in the Gryffindor common room, Hermione was not even remotely tired, too afraid that, the moment she went to bed and closed her eyes, that creature would suddenly be upon her. Usually, she would have gone to her parents for comfort, but being in a castle on the opposite side of Britain from them meant that she was cut off from any sort of comfort. All bar her saviour who had just appeared out of the shadows of the fireplace evidently trying not to scare her after all that had happened tonight.

"You should be asleep by now" He said softly unsure of what else he could say to comfort her at this time.

Over the months since October, Orphen would visit her once a week in the common room after everyone else had gone to sleep. After telling him about what she found out, if there was anything for that matter, Hermione would try and squeeze Orphen for some information about the Creed he worked for while striking up some friendly banter which was slightly awkward at first due to him being the first proper friend that she had.

Instead of speaking to him tonight, Hermione just patted the space on the sofa beside her indicating that Orphen should sit there. No sooner than he did, Hermione placed herself in his lap and buried her head in his shoulder. Being accustomed to the witch's behaviour by now, Orphen just wrapped his arms around her tight enough that she would feel comforted without being crushed only releasing her to scratch at the skin hidden under his bandana from time to time.

"What's wrong?" She asked him after feeling one of his arms move away from her to scratch the aforementioned itch again before returning it to its previous place.

"Nothing" Orphen replied despite sounding frustrated over whatever was troubling him.

Deciding to see if she could do something about it, Hermione lifted herself up so that she was eye level with Orphen's forehead and gently removed the bandana allowing her to see the lightning bolt scar hidden underneath the spot he had been scratching earlier the very same scar Hermione had pondered about after first meeting Orphen all those months ago. While Orphen was trying to comprehend why he was letting her do this, he was shocked when he suddenly felt her lips touch his forehead directly upon his scar and felt his cheeks warm.

Blushing slightly herself for what she just did, despite seeing her parents do it to her whenever she got a scratch or bruise, Hermione snuggled herself back into Orphen's grasp this time resting with her forehead against his cheek.

"Better?" She asked.

"Y-Yeah" Orphen stammered having no idea why he felt the way he did when she did that. "Thanks"

_~~~Present Day~~~_

"It's been a while since I've seen you look like that" Hermione commented as she straddled Orphen's lap the moment the wizard sat down and quickly pulled of his bandana to reveal the ever present scar beneath. "What happened?"

"Destroyed a Horcrux that contained a piece of Tom's soul in an old hut that Dumbledore believed to be the dwelling of his mother" Orphen explained as he wrapped his arms around his witch's waist pulling her closer to him. "The pain came so quickly, I almost blacked out"

Hermione left a lingering kiss on Orphen's forehead before lowering herself until she was pressing her own forehead against his as she looked into his eyes. There were times when she could just waste away the days just staring into those orbs and attempt to translate all the emotion the hid from view.

"Does it still hurt?" She asked before quickly pecking him on the lips.

"Not with you on me" He replied cupping her backside and pulling her so that her centre was rubbing against his solid member to enhance his point.

"Cheeky" Was all she replied before covering his lips with hers as she ground her hips into him.

**~#~**

_Mare Flamma__ (Mah-ray Fla-mah)_= Sea of Flames _-Got it off a translations page for those curious._

**~#~**

_Another chapter finally up!_

_Review if possible & 'til next month (I'm trying to keep a steady rhythm going)_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_


	11. 11th Contract

_Disclaimer's on chapter 1_

**~#~**

_Rutilus Saxum_

**~#~**

While the weekend normally signalled a break from tedious studying and classwork for the students, to the teachers, it was nothing more than a short break between classes to mark their student's homework and to prepare classes for the next week.

For one Professor however, the normal interest she had in reading the reports from her students about their views on the subject she taught had waned. Ever since she had listened to Hermione's tale about her first meeting with Har-with Orphen, Lily's thirst for knowledge had her craving for what adventures her estranged son had been in during her time watching over Junior. Especially over key events that had happened over the years.

The only thing stopping her from finding out however was that only Orphen, and quite possibly Hermione, knew what had really happened. While the latter would evidently be too busy studying at an envious pace to be over-prepared for her final year exams coupled with head-girl duties and homework on top of that to spare any time for her even if she was willing, the former Lily had no idea where he went when not watching over Junior, assuming he was still on site that is.

It was not like she could just visit Hermione once a week when she was visited by Orphen like she did last time. It was too awkward for all parties involved the first time.

"If only there was a way to talk to him without…_interrupting_ anything" Lily muttered out loud as she pondered the problem rather than mark the sixth year essays on her desk before her. "I'm actually surprised neither of them just banished me out the room upon seeing me"

"So was I"

Lily cared little about etiquette as she full out screamed at the sudden comment directly behind her before whirling round with her wand drawn moving so quick that half the parchments on her desk relocated themselves on the floor.

"Do that again, and if Hermione has yet to do so, you will learn to fear women regardless of whether you're a teen or an assassin!" She practically yelled at Orphen who was more surprised at how she spoke to him rather than the intent behind the words. "If you can't help it then at least appear near the door not right behind me!"

Calming down slightly after venting off her anger at being snuck up on, especially after being used to her husband, son and even Sirius attempting to surprise her in the past, Lily sat herself back down and summoned all her scattered papers back to her desk. It was only after everything was like it was before Orphen's entrance did she turn back to her visitor.

"May I ask what brings you to my office this afternoon?" She asked politely managing to quell her excitement over the fact that he had come to see _her_.

"Hermione told me that you were curious over what really happened during some of the events over the past few years…and that it would be better that I told you seeing as I was there" Orphen told her slightly hesitant with the last part.

In her mind, Lily was silently thanking Hermione for giving her this chance to get to know what her former son had been up to for several years. She knew that this was awkward for the boy as well, especially after their last exchange of words up in the Headmaster's office.

"Well…" Despite this golden opportunity, Lily had no idea how she was to proceed despite her Ravenclaw mind screaming instructions to her. "I suppose you could begin with what happened at the end of first year, with the Philosopher's Stone. I mean, I never really understood why we had to set up the defences the way Albus requested of us…Unless, of course, he knew that you would be tailing Junior and wanted the two of you to go through so that Voldemort would still believe Junior was the Boy-Who-Lived. That would actually make more sense, because I was never asked to help out and I know from experience that most wizards and witches know little about logic let alone muggle stuff although Severus' defence was rather cunning…"

Lily stopped short when she realised that she had started rambling and had the decency to blush as she looked away from Orphen, ashamed for going off on a tangent when it was really him who should be doing the talking right now. Orphen however, was nonplussed by the elder witch's spiel having known a younger one who could talk a mile a minute on just about anything she had read about for six years now.

"If I tell you about the certain times you're curious about, could you teach Hermione how to stop herself from rambling on like you just did?" He asked unaware of the opening he gave the woman.

"Hermione probably does know how. She just doesn't stop because she likes the way _you_ shut her up" Lily teased before she could stop herself and could've sworn Orphen's cheeks became a bit pinker.

"So, you want to know what really happened at the end of your _only son's_ first year?" Orphen clarified putting emphasis on certain words as he tried to focus on the supposed task at hand Hermione had set him.

_~~~May 1991~~~_

Waiting in a shadowy corner of the dark common room, Orphen tried to comprehend the stupidity of his charge and what he was about to do in the final hours of the night. He had been notified by Hermione earlier that Junior and his best friend, Ronald Weasley, were going to enter the restricted corridor on the third floor to obtain the Philosopher's Stone that was hidden somewhere inside.

Throughout the year, the delinquent duo as Hermione and the two assassin's had dubbed them, were under the belief that Hogwarts professor Severus Snape was trying to kill Junior and get his hands on the stone that Hagrid had let slip about one time and had surmised that he was going to attempt stealing it tonight while the Headmaster was away from the school. And the only reason Orphen and Mahado knew about this was because Hermione had 'joined' with the delinquent duo to help in preventing Snape from succeeding.

Orphen had to give girl the young witch some credit, she had willingly gone over to Junior and Ron one day not long after the forbidden forest incident offering to help them find information on Nicholas Flammel in the library one day, and had found the desired book that held the man in minutes. It helped because she could keep a better eye on Junior despite the boy and his best friend trying to dump their homework on her every night.

If it were not for the fact that he trusted Hermione's word, Orphen would have already left seeing as no one had yet come down the stairs from either dormitory. That was until the witch herself appeared at the doorway to the Girls dorms and came down the spiral staircase and stood beside the empty fireplace.

Immediately she took the chance to look around for Orphen, seeing if she could spot him in the shadows she usually saw him suddenly appear from. She did not have the chance as Junior and Ron came tiptoeing out of the Boys dorms with a bundle of cloth in Junior's hands which Orphen knew to be an invisibility cloak that the boy had obtained at Christmas.

"Let's get under the cloak now before we leave in case anyone's just outside" Junior suggested before he threw the item in question around himself and disappearing into thin air followed closely by Ron and Hermione as he let them under as well.

It was amazing how many kids you could fit under an adult's cloak these days. Three seemed to be the limit however as they were all bunched together, if the yelps Hermione let out whenever someone caught her heel or toe were any indication. At least Orphen knew where they were with each muffled 'ow' she let out as the four of them made their way stealthily towards the third floor corridor where Mahado was waiting in the shadows of the doorway for his apprentice.

"He's already gone passed" He told Orphen before the two of them slipped through the door after the three cloaked spell casters in training letting them see the three headed dog that was starting to stir from its nap.

"We'll have to wait for these three to catch up before we can do anything" Orphen muttered as he watched Junior attempt to play a tune on a small flute to lull the Cerberus back to sleep so that they could slip down the open trapdoor at the mythical beast's front paws.

Mahado was curious as to why his apprentice wanted to wait for the trainee wizards and witch to catch up and would have asked about it had Orphen not suddenly teleported to the cavern underneath the corridor where a huge mass of Devil's Snare was waiting for its next meal. Being the smartest witch of her age, Hermione already deduced how to escape the plant's clutches allowing her to sink harmlessly through the plant where she met up with Orphen underneath once released.

"I thought you weren't coming!" She remarked to the boy actually smiling at the sight of him despite the situation at hand.

"I wouldn't if you hadn't stuck with them!" Orphen replied jerking his thumb up at the black plant-life above them where two preteens were attempting to escape the tentacles apparently not knowing they were just quickening their demise.

"On the subject…" Mahado began interrupting their talk and bringing them back to the task at hand.

The look on Orphen's face told the gun mage that he could care less about what happens to Junior and his friend, yet still acted by lifting up one hand.

"_Sol Pinnaculum_" He muttered creating what Hermione believed was a small sun in the palm of his hand that gave of a blinding flash of warm light before disappearing.

Despite being for a mere few seconds, the spell seemed to effect the plant which seemed to shriek in pain as it let go of Junior and Ron who landed painfully on their rears before they could realise the plant had dropped them.

"That's what you get for messing with me, you oversized weed!" Junior cursed as he stood up and noticed that Hermione was standing near the door to the next chamber looking at him in surprise. "Yeah I know, my magic surprises even me at times. That's _two_ you owe me now"

He was unaware that he had misinterpreted Hermione's look. True, she was surprised by him, but at his stupidity for thinking that the magic at work was _his own_ not someone else's. Someone who would be showing her how to do magic like that and without a wand once she had managed to truly become his friend.

"So that's why" Mahado marvelled as they watched the group from the shadows as they entered a room full of flying keys.

"What do you mean?" Orphen asked without taking his eyes away from the three, one witch in particular.

"Normally, you would've gone straight for the jugular of a mission when you got the chance" Mahado elaborated. "We could've left them in a tangle while we went for the thief before he passed all the defences. Yet here we are watching to make sure they don't get hurt"

"Not all of them, those two can die here for all I care" Orphen countered darkly. "But Hermione just got dragged along because of the bastard. I don't want to see her get hurt because of something he did"

"You keep telling yourself that" Mahado chuckled as they followed after the three again to the next chamber where a giant chess set blocked their way. "Props to the transfiguration teacher for this spread" He whistled in admiration.

For the next half hour, all the two assassins could do was watch and wait as the three, guided by the chess master Ronald Weasley, slowly but surely won over the white pieces. It was marred slightly by the fact that Ron had to sacrifice his own piece in order to obtain checkmate. After checking to see if their fallen comrade was alright, in which Junior swore that he would slug Snape one for him, the remaining two continued on bypassing the next cavern that contained an unconscious troll to enter the one after.

While Mahado stayed behind to check up on Ron with the little healing knowledge he knew, Orphen tagged after Hermione and Junior as they entered a cavern that immediately sprung to life with walls of flame blocking their way forward and back. As Junior stood in the middle of the room completely flummoxed over what to do next, Hermione made her way to the lone table in said room that contained seven different sized potion bottles and a small scroll of parchment. It did not take five minutes for the young witch to solve the riddle contained in the scroll and point at the smallest potion bottle at the far end that would take them forward.

"I'll take it" Junior declared as he snatched up the bottle before Hermione could even blink. "You use the one that'll take you back the way you came, wake up Ron and get to the owlery to send Hedwig to Dumbledore"

"You're going to take on Professor Snape, and maybe even You-Know-Who, _yourself_?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

"Hold them off, at least. I don't have full control of my magic yet" Junior replied confidently. "'Sides, I was lucky once, maybe I'll be lucky again"

If he was expecting Hermione to hug him for being such a brave and powerful wizard, he was disappointed as the witch just stared at him as if he was mental. Realising that he was not going to get what he wanted, the supposed wizarding saviour downed the bottle and went through the black flames towards his destiny…or demise depending on Orphen's mood.

"Why didn't you point to one of the bottles containing the poison or nettle wine?" Orphen inquired once Junior had disappeared.

"Honestly, don't do that!" Hermione cried jumping at the sound of his voice at her shoulder. Her fury at Orphen's entrance quickly turned to worry as she turned round to face him. "I was actually pointing it out for you knowing that that idiot would have snatched it away. It's already refilled, as you see"

She was right. The moment after Junior had downed the contents of the smallest bottle it had immediately refilled itself for the next person assuming they could discover it and not go for one of its six cousins instead.

"You will be careful, won't you?" She asked as she turned round to face him easily more concerned about her first and best friend than the boy who had just left the room.

"I won't die" Orphen promised while not sounding like the cocky, confident Boy-Who-Lived had the firmness to calm the young witch's nerves slightly. It did not calm them enough as Hermione launched herself at Orphen who had automatically opened his arms to welcome her in.

"Please come back" She mumbled into his shoulder trying not to cry at the thought of not seeing him again.

"I will" Orphen replied swearing to himself to make it back if just to be embraced in her arms again. It felt…nice.

Reluctantly, the assassin in training pried himself out of the trainee witch's grasp before teleporting into the next room having no idea how to say goodbye to someone who cared for him outside the order. Upon rematerializing, he immediately noticed that Junior was already bound and on the floor while a few feet ahead of him Hogwarts teacher Professor Quirrell was peering into magical mirror where the stone was somehow hidden inside.

"_Use the boy_!" A mysterious voice suddenly spoke putting Orphen on edge in case the owner suddenly attacked him.

The voice was apparently aimed at Quirrell as the turbaned teacher wheeled on the bound boy released him from the rope and ordered him to come over to where he was standing. While perplexed at what was going on, Orphen watched carefully as Junior complied with the Professor's order and stood before the mirror. Whatever happened was uncertain, but Orphen was sure Junior had somehow managed to procure the stone from the mirror yet Quirrell remained oblivious to it.

"He has the stone!" The mysterious voice snarled apparently having sharp senses also.

Quirrell immediately whirled round on the boy and had already managed to clasp one of Junior's wrists in a vicelike grip when Orphen made his move and plunged a stone dagger laced with petrification acid into Quirrell's back. The Professor could barely scream in pain as he arched backwards before he began to turn into stone and crumble to dust.

What was not expected was the spirit apparition forming from the dust and shooting out of the room, passing through a surprised Junior and causing him to stumble back into a pillar knocking himself out in the process. Orphen paid no attention to it as a splitting migraine had formed the moment he had stabbed Quirrell.

By the time it was over, the room was quiet save for the sound of rushing footfalls towards the room indicating someone was approaching. As much as Orphen wished to relieve Junior of a priceless stone, the Order of Shadow's creed dictated that none should know of them save their targets and, to some extent, the clients forcing him to disappear into the shadows seconds before Headmaster Dumbledore entered.

_~~~Present Day~~~_

Throughout his tale, Lily had sat with rapt attention as if listening to a book speaking of its own contents. It was as if she was a child sitting in front of her mother who was reading her one of her favourite stories.

"Are you alright?" Orphen inquired having only seen that look on Hermione once before when she had been listening to Professor Lockhart talking about his tall tales during the start of second year and never understood the how and why behind it.

Realising what she was doing, Lily blushed slightly as she brought herself out of the daze Orphen had put her in.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help but get drawn in" Lily admitted smiling inwardly at the initial stepping stone they had made towards becoming familiar with each other once again. "What you've told me helps flush out what Junior neglected to tell me, or lied about"

It was rather unfair, she knew, to call Junior, her own son, a liar. He probably believed some of the things that had happened were because of his magic, but there were also a few blatant attempts at taking credit for something he did not do. And this was just the _first year_ to boot!

"Believe me when I say this was just the tip of the iceberg" Orphen told her cryptically as he made to leave hoping he did not have to come back here and just let Hermione continue for him despite knowing it was a long shot.

"When you see Hermione tonight, could you ask her not to write too much more than what her teachers requested for homework sizes please?" Lily called to his retreating back.

Orphen was too late in realising that he was being teased when he nodded his head at her request. Glaring back at the woman one last time, despite it being marred by red cheeks, he disappeared from the room altogether leaving a happier Lily Potter than she was before he had first entered.

**~#~**

_Review if possible & 'til next month_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_


	12. 12th Contract

_Disclaimer on chapter 1_

**~#~**

**Hunter & Hunted ****  
**_(got fed up with the translation stick)_

**~#~**

"Oy, Granger!"

The witch in question stopped on her way to her next class upon hearing someone call out her name. Wheeling round allowed her to see Ronald Weasley jogging towards her. While Ron was Junior's best friend, he had stopped picking on Hermione midway through fifth year during their self-taught defence classes when he realised just how scary the witch in question could be. Since then, he had been more friendly to her. Not buddy-buddy, but friendlier all the same.

"You bellowed?" She asked when Ron was within normal speaking range.

"You have any idea what's wrong with J?" Ron asked. "Ever since he went up to see Dumbledore at the start of term he's been…well…angry about something"

Hermione had a good idea about the bee that was under Junior's bonnet. She had also noticed that Junior seemed ticked off and it was most definitely because of finding out about Orphen and that the assassin had been claiming that he had been the one to do all the things he had done. A sharp blow to the ego that Junior wanted to repair.

"Probably Professor Snape" Hermione replied shifting her book satchel about on her shoulder. "He was probably at whatever meeting Junior was invited to and made several provocative remarks to him. Quite likely something to do with Ginny, most likely"

Ron seemed unsure about her reasoning but just shrugged it off instead leaned in closer slightly.

"Speaking of her, keep away from Ginny as much as possible. J told me he was going to try bedding as many of the other girls as he can this year seeing as he has his own room" He warned her before walking off to his next class.

Hermione understood what he meant. First night back, Ginny had practically threatened her to stay away from Junior, not that she would even if someone gave her her own private library. There was no doubt that Ginny would be practically glued to Junior all the while snarling at any female who came within five metres of the wizard. At least Hermione figured that she would get some peace from the red headed witch for a while.

Finally reaching the classroom, Hermione brought out her Muggle Studies books and waited for the rest of the class to arrive. By now, she was confident that the smile on Professor Potter's face for the past few days was because of Orphen.

**~#~**

"Ten Eaters, two Killers. Just like you said" Mahado muttered as the black demon snake slithered through the small opening and wrapped itself around his ankle before dissipating into nothing.

"Disappointed?" Fleur asked curling a lock of her blonde hair around one finger.

"Only about the lack of numbers" Mahado grumbled in reply. "It's kinda hard to thin Snake-boy's ranks if he's only sending out a handful at a time"

"Well, the next time I meet one of their contacts searching for you, I will advise them to bring a small army with them" Fleur shrugged unfazed by the sour look her lover was sporting.

"Only if small means at least five hundred of Tom's followers" Came the assassin's reply turning to face the part veela. "You know I prefer outnumbered odds"

"Why don't you remind me by taking out the enemy post haste, _mon amor_" Fleur suggested wrapping her arms tight around Mahado's neck as she all but ground her hips into his own. "That little tart I had to seduce for this information has left me with an itch I am sure you are more capable of scratching, _non_?"

"You sure know how to motivate someone" Mahado complimented before practically vanishing from the room causing Fleur to stumble forward slightly.

Down in the street alley, Macnair, Greyback and five of their best men each were cautiously scouring the place with Greyback and his team out in front while Macnair and his fellow executioners followed several paces behind them in order to not accidentally get their own scents mixed with that of their targets.

They were taking a risk searching for the ones responsible for the deaths of Dolohov and his battalion in broad daylight. However, upon finally managing to detect a faint trace of the assassins' scent after nearly a week of searching, the group decided to risk it if it meant finding them. After a few hours of careful tracking, it seemed as if their choice was worth it when the scent became stronger. They were sure the Dark Lord would reward them well when they returned with their prey's heads on poisonous pikes.

From his position as point man, Greyback was the first to notice the sudden appearance of the stranger in the hooded black coat up ahead of them. It was his werewolf instincts that told him to get out the way just barely enough to avoid the three silvery bolts of light erupted from a muggle weapon called a fire-leg and strike two of his trackers in their chests while a third was struck right in the face splattering the death eater behind him in bone, blood and grey matter.

Even if this robbed figure was not one of the people who killed Dolohov, his remains would be given to the Dark Lord's snake once they were done with him. Said individual, apparently thinking along the same lines, quickly turned and fled into an empty warehouse at the far end of the street with Voldemort's minions in close pursuit.

Almost immediately, Greyback called out for the remaining members of the group to stop as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up warning him that this was prey not to be taken lightly especially when it had hidden itself within the vast shadows of the warehouse. Coming to a similar conclusion, the team immediately formed a circle as they tried to spot their assailant which was near impossible considering his cloak allowed him to blend into the shadows.

"Down!" Greyback yelled as he squatted down his ears and werewolf instincts warning him of something coming.

Having worked with Greyback before on similar missions, Macnair quickly followed the werewolf's order with the rest of them following at a slightly slower pace. The two slowest were rewarded with the sight of some sort of tentacle scything through the air towards them. One had his head taken off completely whilst the other, being just higher, was struck by the vicious blade at its tip spraying blood and organs everywhere as it tore through him.

There was no doubt about it this was one of the assassin's that attacked the Nocturnal Succubus. It was highly possible that this was the one that ripped apart Dolohov's battalion.

Believing such, one of the death eaters bolted for the door they had come through. He had barely reached the doorway when a black demon snake suddenly appeared out of the nearest shadow and bit down into its victim's throat. The remaining wizards shot killing curses and other various spells of the lethal variety at the thing but only succeeded it striking their downed comrade who, if not already dead from the bite, was now a smouldering corpse as it dropped to the ground.

More accustomed to fighting strange prey than his cohorts, Macnair noticed that the creature seemed to prefer darkness. And what better way to weaken prey than to rob it of its strength?

"_Lumos Maxima_!" He yelled pointing his wand in one direction with Greyback and the rest following his example.

With more than half a dozen lumos spells lighting up the warehouse, the assassin was soon spotted near the far wall covering his face with one arm quite likely blinded by the sudden change of brightness. Ensuring that the temporal light source remained around for a few minutes, the death eaters moved in on the assassin too caught up in their illusions of grandeur the Dark Lord would award them for their success to notice the rock of Peruvian darkness powder fall from the sleeve of the assassin's other arm.

Catching what their underlings did not, Greyback and Macnair called out for a hasty retreat realising a repeat of the Succubus massacre was about to begin before apparating away. The death eaters realised all too late what their superiors did as their weapon against the assassin was effectively smothered by the instant darkness powder. By the time the black smog had cleared, only the headless and heartless corpses of the death eaters remained.

The two death killers reappeared in the Dark Lord's mansion gasping as they almost splinched themselves getting away and had possibly just escaped by the skin of their teeth.

"Report" Came the voice of the Dark Lord himself. They had unwittingly apparated right into the Dark Lord's throne room.

"We believe we have found one of the possible assassins responsible for Dolohov's death, my Lord" Greyback reported as he and Macnair prostrated themselves in front of Voldemort's throne. "Unfortunately, it seems as if he was waiting for us to arrive and had foolishly walked into his trap"

"His attack method fits the description Rookwood gave us of the massacre at the Succubus. Had we remained a moment longer, we would have been part of it ourselves" Macnair finished. "We at least managed to gleam his weakness"

Voldemort looked coolly down at the two as he processed the information they had supplied him with. From the looks of things, it appeared this third party was indeed siding with Dumbledore and were also more dangerous than the white bearded fool's forces. He would normally have put them under the torture curse for not only failing their mission but for their foolish mistake walking into the assassin's trap. However, Macnair's information of a possible weakness, not to mention their furry at not succeeding their mission made him stay his hand, this time.

"Fail me again, you two, and you shall experience what Malfoy has" Voldemort warned them gesturing to Malfoy who was now sporting a patch of black silk over where his left eye once was.

The two death killers bowed so that their foreheads were pressed to the cold floor before leaving the room. Before they reached the door however, the second most feared word from the Dark Lord sounded and they practically doubled over in the pain coursing through their bodies before Voldemort lifted the curse from them. Lord Voldemort was not _that_ lenient.

**~#~**

Mahado swore as he somehow managed to apparate back into the safe house despite the fact that he was now literally blind as a bat. That was the problem with their arts: while they were indeed deadly, they had an equally deadly Achilles heel to go with it. If it were not for the fact that Voldemort and his followers were already on the top of their list, they would have become their number one priority.

"Are you alright, mon amor?" He heard Fleur ask from somewhere beside him causing him to stumble as he turned to her blindly groping until his hands found her.

Gently taking his hands in her own, Fleur guided the blinded assassin to the couch where he managed to collapse mostly onto it. Sitting down beside him, the French witch carefully inspected the assassin's clenched eyes eventually managing to pry them open enough to see that he was perfectly fine although it would most likely be a while before he could actually see out of them again.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm under the impression that this is going to be harder than we first thought" Mahado grumbled.

"You were just caught off-guard" Fleur consoled him. "Next time you meet, just bring out your big guns instead of playing with your food"

"Speaking of big guns" Despite being blind, Mahado moved so that he was now on top of Fleur who squealed in surprise at the sudden manoeuvre. "Where was that itch you wanted scratching?"

Fleur smiled sweetly at him, despite knowing that he could not see it, before pushing him off of her and the couch so that he landed with a loud thump.

"Even without the charm, you men are always so easy to manipulate" She giggled before apparating away.

"Tease!" Mahado yelled into the empty room.

"Who's the tease?" Asked Orphen as he entered the safe house only catching the last word of their conversation.

"None of your business!" Mahado snorted as he picked himself up and find his way onto the couch again. "Why are you here, come to think of it? Hermione kick you out of her bed chamber?"

Orphen ignored the jibe as he proceeded to his room. He had spent most of the day and previous night scouring unimportant hangouts of death eaters trying to gleam something from their ramblings to no success and only gaining a migraine from listening to them drone on about what they would do to muggleborns when Voldemort won. He would have killed them there and then if it were not for the fact he was doing recon only.

Orphen sighed as he collapsed on his bed. Tomorrow he would be visiting the Professor again, yet he was only half dreading and hating what Hermione had managed to get him into.

**~#~**

_Hope that keeps you entertained for this month._

_Review if possible & 'til next month_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_


	13. 13th Contract

_Disclaimer on chapter 1_

_**~#~**_

**Bloom of the Budding Black Rose**

_**~#~**_

"Any…second…_now_!" Lily whirled round in her chair to gaze at the back wall able to hold in the disappointed pout when she saw that there was no bandanna wearing teenager looking shocked at being caught before he could make himself known to her.

It had been exactly a week since Orphen had first visited her and told her about what had really happened at the end of Junior's first year. In the hopes that he would come again, the Professor had believed that he would be coming again this afternoon at the same time as last probably to give a certain witch time to finish off whatever homework she had left before visiting her.

Seeing as her theory was a flop, Lily turned back to her desk only to jump upon seeing the boy standing by the door apparently waiting for her to turn round. It was obvious that he had been waiting for her to look round before appearing. She quickly caught the small grin that appeared on his face at her surprise before he masked it.

"Don't think I didn't see that you little shit!" She snapped at him both angry and happy that she was, hopefully getting through to him. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you planned that!"

"So you _weren't_ expecting me?" Orphen threw back enjoying the payback from what she did to him last week as the woman's cheeks brightened to a decent red hue.

"Fine! I _was_ expecting you!" Lily admitted trying to stop blushing. "I just wasn't expecting you to actually heed my advice"

"I've seen how scary smart women can get" Orphen remarked.

Lily had a good idea it was one of those times when her son, Junior, and his best friend had finally pushed Hermione far enough that she fought back. It was fortunate for the boys that they were handed their own backsides in an empty corridor and that she was the one who had found them not Minerva or Severus.

"So…Second year" Lily started pulling up the subject, the reason, he had once again visited her office. "The chamber of Secrets and Voldemort's spectre"

"Tom Riddle's first horcrux" Orphen corrected causing Lily's jaw to drop slightly.

The Hogwarts Professor mentally slapped herself when she remembered that Orphen and his partner had been around here for seven years amongst the shadows of the schools halls, being Junior's shadow, discovering everything the Order knew and then some.

"Not to mention the year where Gilderoy Lockhart took up the job of Defence Against Dark Arts teacher" Orphen added and Lily detected a strong dislike for the man in the assassin's voice.

She had a strong suspicion that the reason for this was because of the attention the fraud got from the brightest witch of the generation who was also the assassin's first friend. In other words, Orphen was jealous that Hermione was more interested in a wizard who had claimed to have done things many others had done and had gotten away with it.

"It was _unfortunate _that he suffered from a backlash form a malfunctioning wand" Lily sighed dramatically resting her head on one hand.

"Unfortunate, but couldn't be helped" Orphen shrugged before going back to the topic at hand. "Our mission was to watch over Junior so we were not allowed to investigate the petrification acts that were happening"

"You mean to say that, unless it ties in to your mission, you guys will pretty much ignore everything else?" Lily exclaimed wide eyed in shock. They could probably have stopped everything that had happened after Mrs Norris had been petrified but had not.

"We're not like the MLE or Aurors, Mrs Potter" Orphen told her with no warmth in his voice. "We are professional assassins for hire who earn our bread by completing our contracts. Pro bono doesn't put food on the table"

Lily frowned slightly, more so about what he had called her than what he told her. He was right, unfortunately, working under contract meant following it to the letter. Until Junior found the chamber himself, neither Orphan nor Mahado could or would go after the spectral Tom.

"But it didn't stop you from wanting to hunt down Riddle yourself, right?" Lily asked remembering that Hermione was one of those who had been petrified shortly after Easter.

The change in Orphen was instant. The furry on his face at the memory of his then friend now lover being petrified while he was too busy watching Junior when he was about to play in the Gryffindor-Hufflepuff game. While already his friend, Orphen thought of himself as Hermione's protector as well making him feel angry at himself as well at Riddle for what he did.

So, when Junior and Ron found the entrance, Orphan took the first chance to keep Junior, Ron and Lockhart occupied with a sudden rock fall before going on himself.

_~~~May 1992~~~_

Orphen barely waited for the dust to settle before he continued off down the tunnel towards the chamber. It was pure luck that that faker had attempted to wipe Junior and Weasley's memories as that gave him the chance he needed to subdue all three at the same time without raising suspicion.

The moment Lockhart had cast the obliviation spell, Orphen had sent the spell right back at him with enough force that it sent the useless Professor into the roof of the tunnel creating a cave in. While ensuring that all three were out of harm's way, although he dearly wanted to make an exception or two, the assassin cast a knockout spell at them to ensure that they did not hamper him any further if they managed to make an opening in the rock wall.

He knew he should not be doing this. He was supposed to be shadowing James Potter Junior and only striking when the moment came not disobeying contract orders and taking out whoever it was ahead of schedule and risking exposure of the entire order. Yet the beast that had risen inside of him the moment he had heard about what had happened to Hermione several months ago was screaming for the culprit's blood and Orphen was inclined to agree with it. Hence why he blasted open the door to the fabled Chamber of Secrets without a care in the world over who may have heard the noise.

His hopes for catching the culprit by surprise were dashed when all he saw in the empty chamber was a huge bust of Salazar Slytherin's head in front of a pool of water and Ginny Weasley's unconscious body next to an old diary, a diary that was giving off an unusual aura for a supposedly harmless book.

"You're not the person I was expecting"

In a 'shoot first, ask later' attitude, Orphen whirled round and fired at the stranger only to see his spell sail harmlessly through the spectre of a seventh year head boy from fifty years ago.

"Tom Riddle, I assume?" The assassin asked his eyes mere slits as he stared at the being that was neither ghost nor spectre yet still alive.

"In a sense, I suppose. I'm just a mere memory of the man preserved in the diary this young girl had foolishly been writing in" The spectre explained as he looked at Orphen in earnest as if trying to figure out where he had seen him before. "You are not the boy this girl has been writing about but you bear an uncanny resemblance to him. Are you perhaps-?"

His question was cut short by the spell going through his head turning it into mist before it repaired itself.

"I suppose _that_ answers my question" Tom said smugly. "If so, then you are the real reason the greatest wizard to ever grace the world is dead"

"What makes you think Voldemort was the greatest wizard, when he was after your time?" Orphen threw back.

"Because Voldemort is my _past, present and future_" Tom told him smiling sinisterly at the assassin.

In that moment, Orphen pieced it all together. The spectre's full name was Tom Marvolo Riddle which, when mixed about properly, became the perfect anagram for 'I am Lord Voldemort'. This was no mere ghost or spectre or the like but-

"You're a horcrux. An actual piece of soul separated from the whole" Orphen whispered hearing about such items during his training but never thinking he would actually be going against one. "Then, that would mean the diary-"

"Is the medium anchoring my soul to the realm of the living, which Ginny has been making sure of with her very life force" Tom told him. "Soon, I shall be reborn, and revive the fear instilled by the very mention of my name!"

Orphen was at a loss over what to do. He could probably destroy the diary which would, in turn, destroy Tom but possibly also kill Ginny. His spells against Tom himself were useless until he was properly human again but that would require sacrificing Ginny's life which was a definite no in his books as well.

As he remained rooted to where he stood trying to figure out a way to beat Tom, the soul fraction incarnate had turned his back on the assassin and was now facing the huge head of Salazar Slytherin calling forth the basilisk that was responsible for all the petrified students to come out of hiding and kill the only person who might have been capable of beating him.

Realising what was coming, the assassin leapt back several strides until he was nearly at the far end of the chamber as the sixty foot long snake that could literally kill someone just by looking at them slowly crawled out of the statue's mouth goaded on by Tom's words.

"_Gladius Lumis_!" Orphen shouted launching a beam of white light at the snake going only by what he could make of the snake's shadow. The beam merely bounced off the snake's skin and collided with the chamber wall.

"_Falx Ventus_!" The horizontal windblade of death cut a deep gouge into the statue's face behind the basilisk with a space dividing it in two due to where the snake was which was unharmed by the attack.

"It's pointless, _Potter_!" Tom paused in his speech as another spell lanced through him at the name. "The basilisk's hide is more invulnerable than even dragonhide!"

Orphen ignored his words and continued to launch spell after spell at it despite feeling more and more drained with each one he cast. Eventually, the assassin could no longer keep up his assault and sank to his knees breathless and defeated.

"Sorry, Hermione" He muttered realising that his time was finally up.

The next thing he knew, three shots rang out followed by the basilisk screeching as it collapsed to the floor with a tremendous thump. Looking up, Orphen was amazed as he stared at the lifeless corpse of the basilisk that had three holes in its eyes and mouth respectively. The amazement was quickly replaced with surprise and pain when something hard connected to the back of his head.

"And this is why you were told not to run off and tackle this thing yourself!" Mahado said as the younger assassin whirled round to see his assailant. "Hope you learned your lesson"

Orphen quickly whirled round again to face Tom again only to realise that the spectre in question had vanished. Fearing that he had finally drained Ginny dry, he quickly ran round the snake's body only to stop in his tracks when he saw that Ginny was still breathing and the diary had a large knife stabbed through its centre.

"Fifteenth century silver coated in basilisk venom: created by Da Vinci for Auditore during his own assassin training days in Florence, Italy" Mahado explained.

Orphen just nodded not really interested in the history lesson. Seeing his apprentice was unresponsive, Mahado nudged him back the way they had come.

"I heard that the mandrake draught was finally prepared and is being given to those this creature here petrified" That got a response out of him. "Get going, I'll take care of this mess"

Had Mahado been female, Orphen would not have hesitated to hug him and kiss him on the cheek the way Hermione did the same to him whenever they had met after the fiasco with the stone. Seeing as he was not, Mahado nodded to his teacher and mentally jotted down to repay the favour somehow when he got the chance as he apparated from the chamber to the infirmary making sure no one was around before making a beeline to the bed where his best friend had been since Easter.

The moment he had slipped passed the screens that were around every petrified person's bed individually to prevent others from seeing them in their frozen state, as well as for visitors to converse quietly with them, Orphen was immediately tackled by a brown haired missile who latched her arms round him neck in a death grip. Orphen welcomed the pressure round his neck as he wrapped his own arms just as tightly round Hermione's waist not caring if anyone else saw the smile on his usually cold face.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you moving again!" He told her ignoring the tickling feeling her untamed locks of curly brown hair attacking his face as he turned his head slightly to kiss her on the cheek like she usually did to him.

At the same time, after hearing his words of how happy he was to see her again, Hermione had moved her head from Orphen's shoulder to do the exact same to him. As the two pressed their lips to one another in their first ever kiss, it was after several moments did they pull away from each other in both lip and arm contact.

"I-I'm sorry!" Orphen stammered looking away as he blushed. "I didn't mean to-"

"I'm not sorry" Hermione whispered as she touched her lips smiling at what had just happened. She was blushing also but felt so elated that she could jump over the moon. "I actually…want to do that again"

"Y-You do?" Orphen asked. He actually wanted to do it again also but was sure that he was not supposed to have kissed her in the first place.

"Of course" Hermione told him stepping close to him again. "It's supposed to be the boy who kisses the girl first, anyway"

Orphen just smile quickly realising that she was goading him into proving whether he was a man or not. Taking her up in his arms again, he proved to her just how much of a man he was as the feeling of pure bliss washed over them the moment they kissed again.

_###Present Day###_

Orphen realised too late he had gone too far in his tale when he saw the smile on Lily's face.

"What I just told you does not leave your office-your mouth, in fact!" He told her trying to look serious despite the look of embarrassment upon his face.

It took all of Lily's willpower not to laugh at how embarrassed the supposedly dangerous assassin was looking right now, even more so not to tease him by remarking how it was just getting interesting. She was slightly upset as she was once again not able to hear first-hand about her son's first kiss had he still been with them but was finally coming to grips with it.

"So…once you left the chamber, your partner brought Junior into the chamber and altered his memory to think he had defeated the snaked with a sword pulled from the Sorting Hat and collapsed from exhaustion after killing both the snake and destroying Riddle's diary only to come to the same time as Ginny and I'm just babbling again, aren't I?" Lily asked blushing slightly herself at realising her mistake.

"The curse of a brilliant mind" Orphen teased with a small grin.

Lily's smile could have probably split her head in two if it were any wider. There was no malice in his words but there was a hint of humour in them not to mention that he was actually smiling at her.

"Curse or blessing?" She threw back curious as to where this could take them.

Unfortunately she would never know as Hermione suddenly burst into her office causing her to jump slightly at the sudden appearance of the out of breath girl.

"Her-Miss Granger, what is the problem?" She asked.

While in private she would have just said her name instead of the young witch's title, Lily's office door was still wide open and Orphen was still-or rather was here until a moment ago. She would have to get the little bugger to teach her how to do that at some point, a superb weapon against a family of pranksters.

"There's a fight going on in the head boy and girl dorm!" Hermione explained after getting her breath back. "I think Junior let them in and now they're fighting over who gets to…well…"

Lily held up her hand to stop Hermione obviously getting the picture with enough said. Muttering under her breath about her actual son's antics, the Professor left her office but not without throwing one last piece of advice over her shoulder to Hermione.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't do anything in there, Miss Granger" She said knowing full well she understood the underlying sentence in her words.

Completely catching what the Professor meant, Hermione closed the door to the Muggle Studies Professor's office hearing the locks automatically engage before walking off. She had barely started walking off in some random direction down a secluded corridor when she felt someone wrap an arm round her waist and pull her into an alcove that was just deep and spacious enough for two people to squeeze in if they did not mind the closeness.

"Did you make that up just to see me?" Orphen asked managing to snake his other arm around the witch.

"Slightly" Hermione admitted placing her arms around the assassin's neck and rubbed herself against him. "I noticed Ginny enter and go up to Junior's bedroom saying she was borrowing his shower while she waited for him. Not long after that, Romilda Vane came into the dorm wearing _just_ her school robe by the looks of it and headed to his room as well"

Orphen could easily see where this was going. The two witches were obviously hoping to surprise Junior only to surprise each other instead. With neither of them armed with their wand, they resulted to traditional muggle fighting. He even told her this to which Hermione was not surprised.

"That isn't the half of it" Hermione said refraining from gasping when she felt one of his hands snake under her jeans to clasp her bum. "The two rolled down the stairs, still fighting, the moment Junior walked into the room. Instead of trying to break it up, he just sat down and began to jerk off as he watched them fight"

Now that did not surprise Orphen. He had seen the teen he was guarding discuss many a time over the years about girls and the like ever since puberty had kicked in despite the fact that he already had Ginny as a girlfriend. He had even heard him discussing with Ron trying to sneak into the girl's dormitories under the invisibility cloak. Boy, was that an amusing night when they tried only to awaken every person in Gryffindor House within the first few steps.

"So you decided to come seek me out having become horny over seeing him bring that sorry excuse for a dick into the open? Should I be touched or disappointed in you?" He asked increasing his grip on the witch's rear as he placed his free hand behind Hermione's head and pull her in for a heated kiss.

Allowing their tongues to do battle, Hermione freed one of her arms from around Orphen's neck and slipped it down between their bodies enjoying the groan he gave as her hand slipped into his trousers and clasped around his enlarged member.

"It looks the other way around to me" She remarked as they parted for a brief respite and air. "You got turned on by my tale and are no-oohh!"

Hermione found her words dying in her throat as the hand Orphen was using to kneed her bum had left its spot to traverse along the canyon between her butt cheeks to her dripping sex where it deftly drove one finger inside. Forgetting all about what she wanted to say, Hermione kissed Orphen hard and fierce as she vigorously rubbed his member all the while trying not to moan too loudly at the ministrations his hand was giving her.

Getting tired of foreplay, Orphen pulled his hand free from Hermione's jeans, gaining a moan of unhappiness from her as he turned her so that she was pressed with her face against the wall and his raging member digging into her bum. Picking up on what he wanted, Hermione undid the buckle for her jeans, pulling them and her underwear down far enough for Orphen to easily ram his member deep into her dripping nether lips nearly causing her to scream had he not quickly covered her mouth with his hand.

Even with his hand covering her mouth, the moan she made when she came minutes later was still loud enough to attract Mrs Norris. By the time the caretaker's cat had reached the alcove however, they had already disappeared back to Hermione's bed chamber where they continued well into the small hours of Saturday morning.

_**~#~**_

_Review if possible & until next month_

_Watch your back & peace be upon you!_


	14. 14th Contract

_Disclaimers on chapter 1_

**~#~**

**Talk the Talk**

**~#~**

"I thank you all for making time to come to this meeting when some of us here barely get the chance to stretch their legs given our nation's current state" Dumbledore began as he looked upon the sea of faces in the teachers room that was their current meet room for the Order of the Phoenix given that anywhere else in Britain was probably less adequate seeing who they were up against. "How are things currently faring at the Ministry, gentlemen? Ladies?" He added when Tonks' hair colour intensified at being ignored

Deciding to speak first as he was the most senior and more experienced auror of the bunch within the Order, Alastor 'Mad-eye' Moody stood up, his normal eye fixed on Dumbledore while his larger, magical, false eye continued to spin in at a steady pace like a muggle radar system.

"Ever since Scrimgeour took over from that sack of dung Fudge, he's been splashing out on recruiting and training for MLE and Auror corps as well as rounding up every sodding muncher infesting the Ministry, as I'm sure you all know. After an attempt on his life last week, he's rehired me to train up each and every maggot who could have signed up for auror and MLE training had _someone here_ lowered the bar on his acceptance level for NEWT candidates" His last remark was aimed at Snape with both eyes glaring at the potions master of Hogwarts. "While that is why I'm there, it's also a cover for me to wander the Ministry hunting down the little buggers still inside the Ministry's walls"

"There's a snag on that, however" Kingsley spoke up taking over from Moody. "After the first screening we had last year when Scrimgeour came into power, any of Voldemort's followers who managed to avoid being detected are no longer wearing his mark on their left forearm"

"That is because they are not proper Death Eaters" Snape told him. "Assides Rookwood, who willingly cut out his own mark to remain inside, the ones inside the Ministry are just informants, hoping to avoid death by giving him the information he needs. Right now, he is interested in a vigilante who has made mincemeat of some of Greyback and Macnair's finest men"

There was a murmur from those around the table. Asides from the teachers, no one else knew about the two assassins Dumbledore had hired. To combat this and prevent others from sticking their noses in, and risking losing the rest of their heads along with it, Dumbledore suggested that they dub Mahado and Orphen as rogue vigilantes who went about taking care of Voldemort's men their own way. And very well too judging by their results.

"Can we use this to our advantage perhaps?" Lily asked.

"It's possible" Snape muttered as he thought it over. "According to Macnair, the vigilante was injured in some way"

"Are you saying we should let him be the bait for some trap, Severus?" McGonagall asked.

"I'm saying that our new ally might have prepared for such a thing, having already trounced some of the Dark Lord's top men already" Snape replied coolly. "The question is how to lure out the rats"

"There's bound to be a few in Auror and MLE. Sirius and I could go to the Weary Wandmaker and spread the word about him recouperating" James put in.

The Weary Wandmaker was a wizarding pub within walking distance from the Ministry of Magic. It was mostly used by aurors and members of the MLE, Magical Law Enforcment, when they clocked out and were too tired to apparate or floo to their preferred pubs for their delightlful elixir of rejuvenation. Other Ministry officials also went by the pub for lunch breaks. Rumour has it that many of those who went there were Death Eater wannabes hoping to live better lives under a more powerful ruler when he won.

"We go in and 'let slip' where the guy's hiding, they tell all their buddies around the apartments-"

"I may be able to fool some of the less intelligent death eaters about a fortune presented to the ones who bring him in" Snape cut in on James plan.

"Ooooh, that'll bring most of them together hoping they'll outnumber him" James admired before continuing. "Anyway, if we can send word to the guy, with any luck, whatever plan he has for any unwanted visitors will take care of them all or at least keep them occupied until mine and Padfoot's teams show up"

The plan sounded good. There was just one thing wrong with the picture however.

"Who are you and what have you done with Prongs?" Sirius asked pointing his wand at his best friend voicing many a person's question.

"What? Just cause my son's got to kill _him_, mean we can't thin his ranks and give him an easier time. Even if it means collaborating with Sniv-…Severus" James corrected although you could almost hear the teeth grinding as he spoke the potion master's name.

Lily covered her smile behind her hand while Dumbledore's beard easily covered his own. To them, they believed that the real reason they were working together, or at least trying to, was because of Orphen and Mahado showing up. Seeing as two kids were taking care of more of the enemy than they were, except for Moody during the first war, it had really lit the fire under their cauldrons.

"Any other new business?" Dumbledore asked around.

~#~

"I have to say, I'm very proud of you for what you did in there" Lily praised her husband as the two of them left the room arm in arm.

"Well, I had to get back into your good books somehow after what happened the last time I opened my big mouth" James admitted remembering the deadly blow he took from his wife as well as not being allowed to see her when she visited home during his days off.

"And you are doing a good job so far" Lily complimented giving him a peck on his cheek while, in the back of her mind, she was predicting what he was about to say next.

"Well then. Now that I'm off the hook, how about we discuss this punishment you've given Junior?" James asked.

Who says divination was a lost art? Lily could not help but think as her prediction was right on the galleons.

Just at the end of the week, Friday evening to be exact, Lily had just been finishing a meeting with a certain, raven haired assassin when she was interrupted by the head girl practically barging in and informing her of a fight breaking out in the head prefect dorms between two girls over her son. While angry at Junior, who was the only one she knew who could have given the other girl the password, assuming one was his girlfriend, it paled in comparison to what she saw when she reached the dormitory.

"I'm not going to be lenient on him this time, James. Junior needs to stop screwing around and get his nose to the grindstone if he's to pass his NEWTS" Lily told him.

"Yeah, but the _Chastity curse_, Lil?" James retorted almost whining. "A week of that's pure torture and I'm just thinking about it!"

The chastity curse was the wizarding world's version of the iron muggle underwear used by maidens to keep their virginity during medieval times. The nature of the curse differed between sexes. For males, it was as if their dicks were numb and could not bring about the feeling of pleasure no matter who he did it with and for how long, even by themselves, while females had an invisible barrier covering their maidenhood that did not allow anything past that could stimulate pleasure which included their own fingers.

It was rarely used in these modern times although couples just entering wedlock did use them to prevent any unfaithfulness or temptation until their honeymoon in order to make the moment that much sweeter.

"You weren't there, James" Lily growled trying not to remember the sight before her upon entering the dorm.

While it indeed looked like a fight had happened between the two girls, it had finished shortly before the professor had arrived to see Junior ploughing into Miss Weasley from behind who in turn was pinning Miss Vane to the floor with her own body.

"According to Junior, you just interrupted them-"

"Both the girls were covered in scratches, James! Not to mention Ginny had a bust lip while Romilda had a black eye and strangle marks around her neck!" Lily interrupted neglecting to mention that Junior had a red palm print on one cheek from where Ginny obviously slapped him after beating the other witch but that was beside the point.

James Potter Senior should have known to back off at this point. Anything more and he risked another empty bed during the rare days off he gets or worse: banishment to the sofa, every married man's best friend after picking and losing a fight with the wife.

"Come on, Lils" He cooed pulling his wife into his arms. "Junior has the brains of both me and his beautiful mother. He'll pass his NEWTs with flying colours without breaking a sweat"

Lily hummed slightly trying not to give in to her husband as he turned on his charm.

"Look, Junior probably just wanted to try something new, not expecting it to backfire on him. He's bound to have learned from this so there's no reason to keep the curse on him, right?"

Lily was unable to hold in her sigh. "I suppose I can lift the curse"

It took all of James self-control not to whoop out loud in victory at her words.

"But only if you bear it for six months"

"Ah well, I suppose a little more downtime on the books wouldn't hurt his noggin" James shrugged turning a full hundred and eighty at her words. "Who knows, he might even rival that Granger girl he keeps saving"

"Maybe so" Lily agreed as the two continued back to her room biting the inside of her lip in an attempt to refrain from laughing at the absurdity at her husband's words.

~#~

_Sorry if it's short folks, been having a little trouble thinking up stuff to put in between flashback chapters._

_Review if possible & until next month_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_


	15. 15th Contract

_Disclaimer on chapter 1_

_**~#~**_

**The Fickleness of Fortune **

_**~#~**_

"Move quietly now!"

"Who made you the boss?!"

"Just shut up and make sure you keep quiet!"

"Both of you clamp your mouths shut before you blow our chance!"

The words of the third voice that cut over the first two shut them up as they remembered why they were here. Several days ago, in a simple pub after work hours, the three mysterious men, as well as several others of their group, overheard two well-known aurors at the bar talk about an up and coming vigilante that had gotten rather high on You-Know-Who's Undesirable List for killing one of his inner circle and an entire battalion he controlled.

According to what they had overheard, the vigilante had recently been injured in some way during a fight and was currently recuperating near the empty factory where he took out several Death Eaters and nearly two Death Killers. While that was interesting, word had gotten round that You-Know-Who was giving out a reward for whoever brought in the head of the vigilante while, if someone managed to bring the vigilante to him undamaged so he could torture the man himself, they would be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams.

Unsure of how strong this vigilante was, even if he was injured in some way, the group of misfits went about gathering all of their kin before planning how to capture the vigilante. After several days of careful planning, the group of Dark Lord Follower wannabes began carefully combing the buildings searching for the elusive vigilante. Eventually, they had scoured the entire area minus the one they were sneaking into right now.

"Go check it out" The first voiced ordered as they reached the door on the top floor.

Grumbling as he fished inside his cloak for some trinket, the second voice stepped up to the door with a small cylinder with a glass eye attached to one end that allowed him to see through pretty much anything- minus women's clothing for some unfortunate reason. Within seconds of placing the spyscope on the door and peering into it, the second voice jerked his head back blinking his eye rapidly to make sure he was not seeing things before pressing it back to the scope.

"Well?" First voice demanded after waiting almost a full minute for the second voice to give the word on whether the vigilante was in there or not.

"He's in there" Second voice replied almost panting by the sound of things. "And he's not alone"

Seeing as he was not going to be getting any more out of second voice, first roughly shoved second aside whilst prying the spyscope out his hand and pretty much stabbing it against the door. Looking into it, the blood practically plummeted south upon the image burning into his retinas.

"Damn! That's the whore from the Triwizard Tournament he's with!" He pretty much swore as he recognised the blonde who was practically doing a handstand on the couch with the vigilante kneeling behind her with his face buried in her crotch, both of them buck ass naked.

"Let's try to keep her alive as well. If we're lucky, the Dark Lord might give her to us after he's finished with them" Third suggested as First voice pulled away from the scope. "Remember, illumination spells then stunners. Make sure you don't overdo it or the Dark Lord will overdo us"

The other two nodded within the deep hoods of their robes before heading back down the stairs to their respective groups. The plan was to strike from three angles: front door and the two windows, effectively boxing the vigilante in. From what they had overheard, the vigilante was susceptible to bright lights which allowed two of the Dark Lord's Inner Circle to injure him before he managed to escape.

Hearing the sound of padded footsteps coming up the stairs, Third barely glanced at his group as they got into position while he waited for the bracelets on his wrist to warm. Laced with the Protean charm, they were connected to the bracelets the other two wore allowing them to silently signal to one another when they were in place. Feeling them heat up a few moments later, Third checked to make sure his group were in position before tapping both bracelets twice with his wand signalling for them to begin the count.

Ten seconds later, the three groups of Death Eater wannabes rushed the apartment.

_**~#~**_

Fleur's moans of ecstasy as Mahado's tongue explored the inner most regions of her crotch became whines of disappointment when she felt him pull away as her climax neared her for the fourth time. It was bad enough she was getting a sore neck from the position she was in, but for her to be brought literally to the edge of bliss only to be pulled back at the last second was becoming torturous. Had he not punished her enough for what she did to him last Thursday yet?

"_S'il vous plait, mon amor_!" She panted heavily feeling his breath ghost over her nether lips bringing gooseflesh to the surrounding skin cells. "Are you not yet satisfied with what you are currently doing to me?!"

"What do you think?" Mahado shot back before nipping the pink nub nestled at the front of her pussy with his teeth causing the girl to squirm at the pleasure it brought her.

"I think, if you keep this up, your dagger will slide right out of it's sheathe" Fleur replied her arms bent awkwardly behind her so that Mahado's 'dagger' was firmly in her clutches. "Assuming it does not become brittle before you finally decide to _hide it_"

Conceding to her point, the gun mage pulled away from the foreign blonde far enough so that the rest of her body landed on the couch before dropping on top of her. Not caring of the extra weight landing heavily on her, Fleur barely held herself back long enough for Mahado to bury his dick inside her crotch before wrapping her legs tightly around his hips, locking her ankles to ensure he did not try to pull out as her tongue dove into his mouth tasting herself on his tongue and inner walls as she explored his mouth cavity.

Ignoring the sharp pains in his back from where Fleur's nails were almost drawing blood from where they were dug in, Mahado pounded mercilessly into her. Too enthralled in their act of lascivious intimacy, neither was aware of the abode being breeched nor the security measures activating that saw the end of forty witches and wizards who wish to join Voldemort's ranks.

_**~#~**_

Hermione was sure today was her Friday the thirteenth even though it was only a Wednesday in the middle of November. Ever since she had woken up, the witch had had nothing but bad luck happen to her.

In the morning, her mental alarm clock failed to wake her causing her to over sleep for half an hour only managing to get dressed and down to the great hall in time for a measly slice of toast. When she was heading for her first class, Transfiguration, the stairway rotated so that she took an extra ten minutes to reach the classroom barely making it on time. Her Potions class seemed to be going along smoothly until near the end when she realised she had overused one of the ingredients earning her an E which was by far her worst score to date.

And now, more than halfway through lunch, she had realised that she had left her Defence books back in the Head girl dorm forcing her to abandon her lunch in favour of getting the required books then double back to the opposite side of Hogwarts where the Defence Against the Dark Arts was located. It got worse as she then had the misfortune of running smack into the one boy she did not want to bump into in the doorway to the Head common room.

"If you wanted to see me, you could have waited until tonight seeing as Ginny's stuck in her own dorm for the rest of the month" Junior told her after recovering from the collision.

Hermione just rolled her eyes as she bent down quickly sweeping up her book satchel and standing up straight again before she unwittingly gave Junior the wrong idea or a decent view of her ass.

"I see you plenty enough as is without having to ask for a moment of your…_private_ time" She told him coolly before attempting to move passed him and out the door to the common room only for it to backfire as Junior just pressed himself against her so that she had the misfortune of being trapped between a doorframe and a waste of space.

"Isn't that why you blabbed on me? To get some, as you put it, private time with me with no Ginny about to hurt you?" Junior retorted resting one hand on the witch's robe covered backside and squeezing it slightly enjoying the firmness beneath his fingers while his mind imagined what else she could be hiding under them.

In a swift movement, Hermione had pinched the skin of the hand attempting to violate her causing junior to pull away in shock and pain allowing her to quickly get out from between him and the doorframe and into the corridor where she took off at a decent walking pace before the boy had time to process what had just happened.

She should have known he would have thought of something along those lines when his mother walked in on him. But there was no way she was just going to sit there and first watch Ginny first beat Romilda in a catfight then straddle her and let Junior take her from behind all the while making sure the poor witch was watching so that she knew who was the girl of the 'Boy-Who-Lived'- the so called 'Boy-Who-Lived, at least.

And even with all the heat both Junior and Ginny were getting from the latter's red-haired brethren, minus Ron who, in a rare show of intelligence, had asked both Hermione and his girlfriend Luna to keep himself lock him in an unused classroom until he had used up all his anger on whatever was inside the room, Junior was assuming that Hermione had ratted out on him knowing that he would be banned from seeing Ginny for a while leaving just the two of them alone. The mere thought made Hermione sick to her stomach.

"Wotcher, Hermione!" Tonks greeted her when the witch entered the classroom. The auror was filling in for the rest of the week due to the reinstated Professor Lupin having to take time off due to his _furry little probl__em_ as the students had decided to dub it unaware of how accurate they were to what his best friends still called it as well.

"Hi, Tonks" Hermione returned as she took her seat at the front of the class. "How's Professor Lupin doing?"

"You should know by now, Hermione, that you can't keep an old dog like him down. Heck, even I can't keep him down sometimes and I'm his wife! Not that that's a bad thing, having someone with such stamina" Tonks replied winking as she grinned rather cheekily at the younger witch.

Unable to hide the grin at the hidden meaning of the metamorph's words, Hermione felt her day begin to finally brighten up. Ever since she had met the witch last year, Hermione had come to view Tonks as the older sister she never had as she always managed to cheer her up whenever she was feeling down. She was also the only person who seemed to have noticed that she had a boyfriend although she was unaware of exactly who Hermione's said boyfriend was and where he lived.

"So is that why you fell in love with him?" Hermione could not help but ask almost biting her lip to stop laughing out loud.

"You're muggleborn, Hermione. I'm sure you've heard that saying about the older the bottle the sweeter the wine, right?" Tonks countered.

"Oh, put a cork in it, Tonks!" Hermione laughed. "You're supposed to be teaching us Defence not 'The Talk' and other related issues"

"I prefer putting something much _bigger_ and _thicker_ than a cork in it, Hermione" Tonks replied cheekily causing Hermione to drop her head to the desk as she realised what she had stepped into.

Tonks was definitely the sister she never had alright. Right down to the teasing and embarrassing rights they had over younger siblings. At least she now knew how Ronald felt when the twins were still in Hogwarts.

Eventually, the rest of the class arrived, including one not so popular wizard in Hermione's books, signalling the start of class.

"Alright, folks. Who among you, asides Miss Granger can tell me what the Resilari spell does?" Tonks asked the class only to get one hand to rise up with the answer. "Miss Granger?"

"The Resilari, or rebound shield, allows us to redirect an opponent's spells in a direction of our choosing" Hermione replied in one breath.

"Correct! Take ten points for Gryffindor and a minute to catch your breath" Tonks told the witch getting a small smattering of laughter from the rest of the class. "Now then, as Miss Granger stated, the resilari spell redirects any attacks against the caster making it a very handy spell. Of course, that's providing you can cast it at the critical moment: right as the spell comes within arm's reach of you, before it passes your wand"

At her words, the students began muttering among themselves as they realised the risks involved with the spell. Too soon and its effect would probably be too weak or have already dissipated into the air before it arrived, too late and you were most likely under a spells effects, or even dead, before uttering the first syllable. The timing and precision making it a perfect example for a _Newt_ level spell that only one or two in the entire class might even have a chance to deploy properly.

"So then, any volunteers?" Tonks asked not at all surprised to see Hermione step forward.

She was surprised however, when Junior also stepped forward to stand beside Hermione with the witch sharing a similar look as the teacher. While she was surprised, the rest of the class was staring at him in awe as they realised he was probably no longer trying to hide his magical strength what with Voldemort's armies rising.

Hermione just rolled her eyes when realisation set in. With Orphen appearing and revealing he was the one who had done all of what he had done, even if just to a select few like herself and the Professors, Junior was now having to push himself to prove he was still the Boy-Who-Lived. This lesson was not going to end well for someone, she was sure of that.

"Okay then you two. Before we see if you can pull this spell off, you'll need to know the wand movements and command" Tonks explained. "Now, repeat after me: _Resilius_"

Hermione muttered the spell under her breath watching carefully as the substitute Defence teacher showed them the required wand movements. When asked to then perform the spell, she was extremely pleased when she saw a gentle lavender barrier the size and shape of a circular shield like the ones seen in Medivil times appear at the end of her wand before disappearing just as quickly as it came. Her smile grew when it took Junior two more attempts before he got it.

"Now that you two have the spell down to pat, let's see if you can actually use it in combat. Seeing as there are two of you, I want one of you to cast a spell and the other to deflect it back to the sender. If you're good enough with it, we might be able to get a rally going. For every perfect rebound, Gryffindor shall gain one point" Tonks told them directing the two students to opposite ends of the classroom to assure as much possible time for them to cast the spell.

It was amusing for the students to watch as the test began. Hermione cast the projectile spell to start them off only for it to collide with Junior square in the forehead despite him claiming that he was ready. When it was Junior's turn to begin, he barely waited for Hermione to state she was ready before beginning. He had hoped to catch her off guard, only to duck as the spell came speeding back at him. After several more tries, making the test look like muggle tennis match between beginners, a rally finally began.

Unfortunately, the rally only lasted until it got back to Junior again. Upon managing to successfully reflect the spell the first time, Junior had gotten overconfident and, despite successfully managing to cast the spell again, he directed it the wrong way and ending up combusting a book bag under one of the desks.

"Guess that's why I'm a seeker and not a beater or chaser" Junior joked although he was the only one chuckling in a class of silent students.

Apparently, he had not yet realised whose book bag he had turned to ashes or the bags contents. Among the course books, there was a special book a certain witch always carried around with her even though it had nothing to do with any of the courses: an ultra-rare, one of its kind, first edition _Hogwarts: A History _that had not been altered or edited in any way.

"Oh, bugger" Tonks muttered as she glanced over at Hermione who had yet to move or even breath by the sound of things.

Five minutes later, Hermione had burst out of the classroom at full sprint leaving behind a class full of scared students and teacher as well as an almost unrecognisable Junior who had been battered by an impressive range of spells before being hung in the air by one ankle next to a hexed and hung Ron who had foolishly muttered about Hermione going mental over a stupid book.

At the speed she went, it took all of five minutes for Hermione to reach the Head students rooms having barely stopped in time to say the password before proceeding to her room where she immediately flung herself onto her bed and began weeping into her pillow. While books were her passion, the Hogwarts: A History book had been a gift to her from Orphen to commemorate her becoming a prefect making it a treasure she took everywhere just in case someone tried to steal it while she was away.

Too engrossed in soaking her pillow with salty tears, Hermione failed to notice some approach her until they had sat down beside her and gently stroked her back to calm her down. When she glanced round to see Orphen sitting beside her, Hermione immediately forgot about her pillow in favour of pouncing on the assassin and burying her face in his shoulder as she clung to him not caring that she had unwittingly sent the two of them off the bed and onto the floor.

It was another five minutes of just lying on the floor before she finally calmed down enough to actually start speaking.

"Nothing's gone right today" She whimpered holding back from crying as she explained what had happened to her today although she might have been overdoing it a bit when it came to her bad potion grade. When it came to telling Orphen about Junior destroying her book, it was actually Hermione who suddenly stood up on a rage. "He probably did that on purpose! He knew I was superior to him in grades and decided to try to…to…to- well, he was attempting to do something! I just know it!"

Having decided that he had heard enough of his love's ramblings, Orphen stood up and walked over to Hermione cupping her face in his hands and pulled her towards him effectively calming the witch down judging by how she melted against him as their lips met. Letting go of her face without breaking contact with her lips, he dropped them passed her hips before bringing them back up underneath her skirt towards her knickers.

Realising what he was doing, Hermione moved her hips to give Orphen's hands an easier time of slipping the undergarment free of its resting place allowing the piece of cloth to drop gracefully down her legs to pool at her feet. Stepping out of the small pile, she allowed her lover to push her backwards until she felt the wall against her back where she immediately separated her lips from his causing Orphen to look at her in slight confusion.

"Why are you here? You normally show up on a Friday after talking with your- I mean, with the Professor" Hermione said as she stared into the twin pools of dark emerald.

"I had nothing better to do" Orphen replied with a nonchalant shrug. He did not want to tell her that Mahado and Fleur were going at it as they waited for the Death Eater wannabes to attempt to attack them. By now, they were probably dead and sent to Tom in multiple pieces minus their heads anyway.

"So you have the rest of the day free?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"Only until you're feeling better" Orphen countered pressing himself against Hermione as he latched onto her neck causing her to moan before she managed to find the strength to push him off again.

"Then promise me you won't leave me until morning" She almost begged of him clearly intent on remaining here in her bedroom until classes the next morning.

"But what about-!" Orphen's question about her next class was cut off as she claimed his mouth again as if telling him through the kiss that she did not give a ghost's ectoplasm residue over the rest of her classes for the day.

Easily getting her message, Orphen pressed himself flush against her the moment his engorged member was free of its fabric restraints. The moment he was inside of her with her legs entwined round his hips and in no danger of falling off the wall, he allowed one had to dive underneath her blouse and shirt to attack her breasts causing Hermione to moan into his mouth at his ministrations driving him further on.

**~#~**

"Merlin's beard!" Sirius swore when he saw the table placed in the middle of the dilapidated warehouse on the outskirts of London. "This makes my family's tradition with house elves look tame!"

"At least we now know who was trying to aid Voldemort" James reasoned as he used a spell to verify the identity of each decapitated head on the table. "I'm actually rather curious as to what's happened to the rest of their bodies"

"I don't care if they were scattered on the rings of Saturn, I'm just happy those two are on our side if their faces are anything to go by!" Sirius remarked as he gestured at the pained and fearful expressions on the bodiless heads.

"Damn straight!" James agreed.

**~#~**

In the lair of the Dark Lord himself, screams could be heard from all corners of the manor as various body parts, torn violently from their joints, suddenly dropped down from the ceiling as they appeared from nowhere. Even Tom's throne room was included as a bloody torso landed with a wet splat at the wizard's feet covering the hem of his robes in blood.

While Tom was now livid at the surprise attack to his very base of operations, it was safe to say that Nagini would be quite satisfied for a while.

**~#~**

Bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, Hermione sighed in content as she leaned against Orphen's chest as they rested against the side of the bed allowing the slight breeze drafting through the window to cool her burning skin.

"Feeling better now?" Orphen asked his breath tickling her neck as he pulled her into his lap.

"Much" Was the witch's reply as she rested her head in the crook of his neck closing her eyes as she felt one of his hands venture south down her body to disappear between her legs causing her to gasp slightly as she felt his fingers toy with her nether lips.

"And now?" He asked causing Hermione to laugh as she twisted herself in his arms so that she was now straddling him.

"You are incorrigible" She part scolded part panted as she felt his member slide easily into her again.

"I told you I wasn't going to leave until I made you feel better" Orphen reminded her as she bgan bouncing up and down on his dick.

Hermione's response was to just moan as Orphen's mouth firmly attached itself to one breast while his hand played with the other. Her day may have been abysmal but as long as he was around, it would always end in a very pleasurable way for her.

**~#~**

_I'll admit that this is be a bit more lemony than I had originally planned this chapter but I thought this would be a better way to answer Zarosian Chaos' question than just replying._

_Review if possible & until next month…_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_


	16. 16th Contract

_Disclaimer on chapter 1_

_Dedicated to my 200th reviewer, SilverMau_

_**~#~**_

…

_**~#~**_

Crabbe and Goyle Senior were grinning under the hoods of their robes at the turnout for tonight. Then again, considering the fighters for tonight's match were mudbloods, mudblood siblings for that matter.

While the Nocturnal Succubus, when it was still running before the attack on Dolohov, was a house of carnal pleasure, the two death killers had come up with an underground arena to rouse the other pleasure their kind enjoyed: torturing mudbloods. While that by itself was stimulating to all true purebloods, the two members of the Dark Lord's inner circle kicked it up a notch by imperiousing two mudbloods and got them to fight one another to death.

"Okay then, everyone. Let's have a warm welcome for our first two competitors of the night!" An unnamed MC spoke out over the talking as the spectators took their seats. "Fresh from their beds from all the way down in Portsmouth, I give you the Herrington sisters!"

Indeed, the two girls that had suddenly appeared inside the ring, probably through portkey shackles or something similar, looked as if they had just been literally ripped straight from their own beds judging by the sleepwear covering their modesty. While surprise and shock quickly flashed through their features, it quickly made way for fear upon realising where they were and helplessly clung to each other as if hoping to stave off whatever horrors were in store for them from the mass of yelling and whooping death eaters.

Mercilessly tearing the two apart with summoning charms while bets were now being taken, Crabbe and Goyle threw the two siblings to opposite sides of the ring of death eaters, making sure to keep them in place with petrification charms until all bets were placed. The moment the last death eater handed over his galleons and placed his bet, the charms holding the two combatants were removed and replaced with the Imperio curse.

With their fears and worries heavily suppressed, as if it were all just a dream, the two girls only had one thought running through their minds: kill the other.

_**~#~**_

"Just my luck!" Sebastian cursed as he listened to the cheering coming from behind the door he was guarding with two other death eaters. "I get stuck with guard duty, even though it's probably not needed, while everyone else gets to watch a catfight to the death!"

Hutchins rolled his eyes at the moaning magic user. While the newbie had a point, there was no way he was going to voice his agreement; the last person who did, Aurors were still finding pieces of him two weeks afterwards. Instead, he just kept watch on his side of the door in case some poor mishap decided to wander down only to be taken in for the games. If they were lucky, some mudblood bitch and her friends might come wandering down for his and Sebastian's entertainment before they handed them over to the Killers in charge of this little fight ring.

Hearing a noise behind him, Hutchins turned round only to freeze up as he stared at the convulsing and bleeding Sebastian who was only being kept on his feet by the strange snakelike creature that protruded from the wall through his back and out his chest. By the time he realised what was happening and attempted to aim his wand at the creature, the snake had lashed out, tearing out the front of his throat and rupturing the carotid artery killing him before his corpse even began to keel over under gravity's law.

Stepping out of the shadow he had been hiding in while his minion took care of the guards, Mahado snapped his fingers three times before melting once more into the shadows. No sooner had he disappeared, multiple pops were heard as James, Sirius and their squads appeared in the alleyway all geared up for what was ahead of them.

"Remember. Exploding or bone breaker hexes to the arms and legs. We need to find out what Snakebreath's plan is assuming our new friend hasn't already rattled him something big time" James reminded them as they quietly made their way into the abandoned building where the fight ring was situated which was surprisingly easy with all the noise the Death Eaters were making.

"Let's just hope our _friend_ holds back a bit more than last time, Prongs. Any more corpses like the ones in that tavern where they made their debut and I think even _I'll_ lose my breakfast" Sirius quipped. "Providing, of course, they don't send the remains to Snakebreath like before"

Several Aurors in the groups shuddered as they remembered the sight seered into their eyes several weeks ago when the Ministry picked up a magic spike on the far outskirts of London and sent their squads out to investigate. Just the sight of the three dozen odd heads arranged in a straight line on a table in the centre of the floor had sent several of their number running from the factory before they emptied their stomachs while several just plain out fainted.

Ever since then, whether through negotiations with Dumbledore or just cooperation for a common goal, the vigilantes had left notes informing them of their next moves against the Death Eaters. Tonight was the first big raid since the truce and James and Sirius, whose squads were the crème of the Auror crop, were fortunate to be on call. The plan was for the team to surround the audience of Death Eaters before the Vigilante made his move.

A sudden scream from one of the Death Eaters when he suddenly saw two of his brethren in front of them lose their heads to the jaws of two demon snake creatures told the Aurors that the plan had gone south. With only half of them in position, James gave the order to take down as many as they could before all the Death Eaters apparated away. Being the professionals that they were, the Aurors quickly paired up and began either hexing away at the Death Eaters or covering their partner with shield spells until the last of the enemy was either contained, dead or somewhere other than here.

"What the blazes was that guy thinking?!" James swore after sending a patronus off calling for the squad with portkey shackles once the spellfire had ceased as well as the Mediwizard team they had on call for the muggleborns the Death Eaters had captured up until this point.

"I wouldn't say that he was Prongs" Sirius offered nodding over to the makeshift ring where several healers were checking up on the two sisters that were sobbing into each other's shoulders in a mixture of relief and forgiveness for what they had done to each other.

Not far from the sisters, the bodies of Crabbe and Goyle Senior could be seen. Or at least what was left of them seeing as their arms and legs looked to have been torn off by ferocious animals.

"The bastards were making them strangle each other, making sure they were digging their nails into the necks at the vein, the…carrot arteroid or whatever the healers call it" Sirius growled.

Any other time, James would have commented on Padfoot's lack of medical knowledge despite having bedded several of the girls who had treated him after a savage day's work over the years. Instead, all he could do was refrain himself from finishing what the vigilante had started on the two while thinking wryly on the two assassin's, including the imposter, being killers with consciences.

_**~#~**_

"Miss Granger. Could you stay behind for a minute?" Professor Potter called out to the Head Girl as the bell for end of classes gonged out.

Remaining in her seat as the rest of the class left, including a rather quick Boy-Who-Lived and his sidekick in order to avoid her wrath, Hermione pondered over what the Professor could be asking her about. It could not have been about the latest homework she handed in- the Professor gave them, or rather her, a strict limit on how much words were required. And while she was still vexed over what Junior did to her favourite book, she did not try to harm him any further providing he was able to brave being in her company for more than a few seconds regardless of whether there was a teacher present.

Once the last student, minus the witch in question, had left the classroom, Lily closed and locked the door with a quick wave of her wand before looking what appeared to be worriedly at Hermione as if hoping the witch in training was the only person that could help her.

"I know this may seem rather embarrassing and personal, Hermione, but…Has Harr-I mean…Has Orphen still been visiting you these past few weeks?" Lily asked wincing slightly when she almost called Orphen by the name he had abandoned so many years ago.

Personal and embarrassing was putting it lightly, Hermione thought as she tried unsuccessfully to keep the blood from drowning her cheeks in vermillion. She might as well have been asking how many times they went at it during a single visit and in which positions.

"He has" Was the young witch's curt reply to the question as her mind, once the embarrassment had been flushed out, began piecing the pieces together in an attempt to see where the conversation was going.

"Then…would you happen to know why he hasn't been visiting me lately?" Lily asked at least relieved to find out that Harry-_Orphen_ was not dead after going after Voldemort's forces.

This was definitely news to Hermione. She had assumed that her love was still telling the elder woman about his escapades over the years of shadowing Junior. Had she known sooner, she would have given him a stern talking to before banishing him straight out of her chambers and forbidding him entrance until he resumed the task regardless of whether or not he could have killed her a number of waves on the spot.

"In all honesty, Professor, Orphen's never mentioned anything about no longer visiting you" She admitted. "Was there some sort of argument during the last visit?"

Lily sadly shook her head. The last the two had talked, it was about the end of Junior's second year and how Orphen had made sure that Lockhart's condition was permanent while his partner went across the world searching for the true heroes whose feats the faker wrote about. Although…

"Now that you mention it…When I asked about what we would be looking back on third year, I could have sworn he froze up for a second and even began to blush slightly before doing his disappearing trick" Lily speculated.

At her words, Hermione's own face flushed a deep red that brought shame to tomatoes and even her own house colours as she realized why Orphen had deliberately failed to visit the Professor.

"Is something wrong?" Lily asked noticing the witch's complexion before quickly understanding the cause. "You two didn't-"

"_NO_!" Hermione blurted out before the Professor could complete the question. "We didn't…At least, not properly…I mean…"

Seeing as this was getting neither of them nowhere, Lily quickly cast a calming charm over the witch before she ended up having a panic attack- something she had nearly seen happen to the witch several times before and after _Owls_ commenced during fifth year.

"Okay. I'm assuming the two of you never…went that far until a later day…or year" Lily added hopefully. "But something _did_ happen that had nothing to do with Junior, right?"

Hermione just nodded, evidently too embarrassed to trust her voice judging by the flushed look on her face as if praying for the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

While she was, at the time, a third year, having her birthday in September made Hermione one of the oldest students in her year. Naturally, she was one of the first in her year to enter puberty and experience the changes in her mind and body. It did not help that she was on more than friendly terms with Orphen who was still almost a year _younger _than her, not that either of them had a problem with it.

No, the real problem was the dreams she was now having about the two of them, experiencing fantasies about him that resulted in her waking up in the middle of the night with an intense fire between her legs and a need to replace her wet underwear and bed sheets. While she managed to refrain from practically jumping the young assassin whenever they met up during an evening to talk, which was ever so much harder whenever they kissed each other during goodbyes, the mere feeling of his lips against her own forced the witch to immediately rush to her bed and attempt to relieve the build-up forming in her crotch by her own means. For a while, it looked as if she were able to keep the beast at bay in Orphen's presence.

Unfortunately, the inevitable would soon catch up with her and on Christmas day, just a few minutes before midnight, Orphen caught Hermione with her pants down _literally_. Having decided to visit her and wish her a Merry Christmas before the day was over, whatever Orphen had planned to do or say to her was swiftly the furthest from his mind as he appeared in Hermione's bedroom only to freeze up over seeing the witch in question with her nightie wide open and her hands ether attending to her crotch or her growing breasts while Hermione herself froze looking as if she had just been caught with her hand still inside the cookie jar in a manner of speaking.

It was unsure which of the two was more red, nor how much time seemed to have passed from the moment their eyes caught hold of the other, only that Orphen barely managed to stammer out an apology before disappearing with such a crack that it was a miracle that her parents never heard it and came barging in and embarrassing the poor witch even further.

"I think it's safe to say that nothing, concerning Junior, happened during third year, right?" Lily asked seeing as Hermione had returned to the slip of a girl she had known when they first met.

Only capable of nodding her head in reply, Hermione did not wait for the Muggle Studies Professor to dismiss her before making a beeline for the classroom door. Watching her go, Lily could not help but chuckle as she realised that, despite being a cold hearted killer, Orphen was still a young boy learning about manhood. For once, she was actually grateful that her son was no longer with her if only to avoid the teasing and celebrating James, Sirius and Remus would have commenced upon learning that Harry was thinking, and quite likely dreaming, about a girl and the music they could be making in the years to come.

_**~#~**_

Panting heavily as she reached the common room for the Head dormitory, Hermione sagged against the back of the nearest sofa as she tried to both get her breath back and recover from what was coming to be one of her most embarrassing moments to date.

For the most part, she was mentally cursing Orphen for not telling her about no longer seeing Professor Potter and why. If he had done so, she could have come up with a way to get around the obstacle in question instead of finding out the hard way and being forced to relive what was probably the longest time she had gone without seeing her friend come lover.

After the surprise visit gone wrong, Hermione suddenly found herself devoid of her first friend and was cursing the very balls of Merlin himself whenever she was not crying herself to sleep over the lack of comfort the assassin had always given her when he came round. It was not until the end of March did she finally manage to find and latch onto the Dark Boy-Wonder and get him into an empty classroom to confront him about what had happened all those weeks ago.

As it turned out, Orphen had actually avoided Hermione all these weeks due to the belief that she was angry at him for dropping in at a rather bad time and no longer wanted to see him. As like Hermione, Orphen never had any real friends minus his teacher, who had told him about puberty and 'the talk' much to his embarrassment, and the witch herself. Believing that he had upset her, he had focused on keeping an eye on Junior nearly twenty-four seven; a task rather droll now that he no longer had his visits with Hermione to look forward to.

No sooner had he finished explaining himself to her, Hermione had latched her arms around Orphen as tight as she could while kissing him with as much affection as she could as if attempting to tell him through the act that she was nowhere near angry with him for seeing her that way. With the woes and miseries now behind them, the two remained entwined for the remainder of the day clearly making up for all the time they had missed one another's presence.

While that by itself could be called sweet if still a tad embarrassing, Professor Potter's interrupted question brought about a more intimate memory of the young witch and her lover.

It had been not long after Hermione's last end of school exam and Orphen, in the hopes of calming the witch down, had taken Hermione to the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade via his style of apparating allowing the witches curious mind to venture round the insides of what was once a haunted house many years ago. In a token of appreciation for the much needed distraction, Hermione initiated an intense lip locking session with Orphen allowing their tongues to entwine as hands slowly and uncertainly began to wander over the other's physique.

It was sure to have been a wonderful experience as the two cautiously pushed the boundaries of their current relationship to new heights, understandable given their pasts and backgrounds, but all good things had to come to an end at some point sooner or later; this time, in the form of approaching footsteps.

Quickly reacting while Hermione remained rooted to the spot at the prospect at being discovered out of bounds with someone who was not a student of Hogwarts, despite the owners of the mysterious footfalls being in the same boat as them, Orphen quickly pulled Hermione behind a hanging drape where there was just enough room for the two in the alcove it concealed- so long as they remained pressed against each other- just in time before the door to the room burst open to reveal Junior and Ginny Weasley, both of which looking as if they had just ran all the way from Hogwarts which was definitely a possibility.

Already surprised and puzzled over the appearance of the two newcomers, Hermione almost gasped out loud when she saw the two proceed to begin what herself and Orphen were doing just moments ago and quickly proceed even further judging by how they attempted to undress without pulling apart at the lips. Utterly revolted at what she was seeing through a tear in the drape, Hermione quickly buried her head into Orphen's shoulder unable to comprehend how tow students _younger _than herself, who was just starting to explore the new stage in life of a hormonal teenager, could be so eager to experience sexual intercourse without caring of the dramatic effects it could have on their lives.

As if the situation were not bad enough, her own body was still tingling from when she had been intimate with Orphen and the feeling was coming more known to her thanks to the fact that she had her back against the wall and Orphen pressed firmly against her in order to conceal themselves behind the drape. Succumbing to the lesser of two evils, Hermione let her hormones take over and began grinding her hips against Orphen as she pressed her lips a to his once more. Orphen, despite shocked at the sudden change over Hermione, quickly found himself following her lead and focused on returning what she was giving him in spades rather than plotting how to kill his charge without being the guilty party.

As if entering another dimension, time seemed to have stopped and even the sounds of the couple on the other side of the drapes seemed to die out as they continued to kiss and caress each other. At one point, Hermione had somehow found herself with her legs wrapped tightly around Orphen's hips and having no idea how and when it happened but enjoying the way the bulge in his trousers was now rubbing against her own covered sex until the friction brought her over the edge and soaking her underwear in her juices with Orphen experiencing the same feeling with his own fluids.

Just as she had told the Professor, Hermione had not lied when she said that they had not done it; yet one could easily argue that it was very close to actually doing it proper. Even so, regardless of whether the assassin had cut all ties to his supposed family, it was certainly something any teenage male would be embarrassed to talk to someone else about. Especially if they were related to one another.

"This sure is a strange place to be spacing out" Someone commented quietly in her ear.

Snapping out of the dreamy state she had fallen into, Hermione quickly remembered that she was still leaning against the back of the couch in the common room of the Head dormitory where anyone could have easily taken advantage of her such as the mysterious person behind her. Unfortunately for the mysterious person, Hermione had a vicious swing and was quick to experience it when the witch spun round and connected the back of her hand to their head.

Shaking her sore wrist, Hermione did not know whether to be angry or happy to see the person who was currently groaning at her feet.

_**~#~**_

_A nice little cliffy to end it for this chapter. Guess who…if you dare!_

_Review if possible & until next time_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_


	17. 17th Contract

_Disclaimer on chapter 1_

**_~#~_**

**The Tree Hiding in the Forest**

**_~#~_**

"Remind me again why you're here with me?" Orphen asked Hermione as the two quietly made their way through the empty school corridors.

"You mean, other than for not visiting the Professor for the last few weeks; keeping it from me that you have not been visiting the Professor for the last few weeks _and_ trying to surprise me up in the common room just now?" Hermione shot back her hand still sore from when she had slugged him one.

Even in the darkness of the moonless night seeping through the windows, Hermione could still see Orphen blushing form her words that was coupled with the embarrassment he obviously felt over being knocked on his ass by his girlfriend of all people.

"Telling her about what really happened during _his_ feats is bad enough, but there is _no way_ that I am going to tell her about what happened between _us _at the same time!" Orphen whispered furiously his angry face marred by the blush he was sporting. "Just her asking about what happened in third year made me freeze up!"

"That didn't mean you could just leave her hanging and wondering if something might have happened to you!" Hermione retorted her own face sporting its own blush as well now. "How do you think I felt when she not only asked me if anything had happened to you but also asked if the two if the two of us actually screwed each other when she finally pieced everything together?!"

By now, the two teens had ceased in their journey towards their destination in favour of the stare down they were now commencing in. It was only when the muffled footsteps coming from the Prefects on night patrol on the floor below did they quickly continue on before they were found out.

"You still haven't told me why you are with me right now!" Orphen reminded quietly.

"Who was it that told you where you might possibly find this…artefact of Ravenclaw again?" Hermione asked a touch smug perhaps, at knowing something that her boyfriend did not yet again.

After peeling himself up off the floor after being laid out by Hermione's backhand, Orphen explained about how he had been spending the time he should have been using filling in Professor Potter on the missing details of junior's heroics searching the castle for a valuable heirloom of one of the Four Founders of Hogwarts, Rowena Ravenclaw, in which Voldemort had turned into another horcrux. Quickly deducing the most likely of places of where it might be, Hermione told Orphen that she would tell him only if she came with her. Normally, Orphen would have protested against this but being up to his neck in trouble with the witch meant he could only agree to her demand.

After a few minutes of silence, and a good few minutes of bickering and whining, the two found themselves standing in the seventh floor corridor opposite Barnabas the Barmy.

"This is the Room of Requirement" Orphen stated blandly remembering the witch's fifth year where Junior, with a lot of prompting from Hermione, held a class for those who wished to learn what Professor Umbridge, the Defence teacher of that year, did not even try to teach them anything practical. "Are you saying that this room will give us the Horcrux?"

"Only if Voldemort put it here when he came to apply for the Defence class" Hermione explained as she began walking to and fro in front of the wall opposite the tapestry. "Ever since the school was made, the Room of Requirement has bound to have accumulated numerous amounts of items which are then kept in the room's memory until someone asks for something similar. For example say a defence book from the late seventeenth century is left here from that time and someone from this time wishes for a room with books from the seventeenth century?"

"Then whatever books are inside the room is put into the room the person is wishing for?" Orphen replied unsure if he was hearing her properly.

"That's partially correct. There is also the fact that Hogwarts is partially sentient due to all the magic in and around it. It will evidently have memories of the way rooms were styled and their purpose- at least, that's what I think" Hermione added as she stopped in front of the door that had just appeared in front of her. "This is just one of them.

Pulling open the door and dragging her boyfriend in after her, the two teenaged spell caster's found themselves in a room that was quite likely as large as the great hall or quiditch pitch full of nothing but-

"Junk?" Orphen exclaimed staring from the piles of discarded books, half melted cauldrons and numerous other knickknacks. "You think Voldemort hid a horcrux _here_?"

"To all who have not seen the diadem, it's just some silly trinket or antiquated piece of junk. And, like the muggle saying goes: if you want to hide a tree, put it in the forest" Hermione quoted looking at Orphen with a look of smugness and hope of approval from him over her solution as to where the horcrux might be. "Well?"

Conceding to his girlfriend's brilliance once again, Orphen pulled Hermione against her for a brief kiss before pulling away and turning to the task at hand.

"How far in do you think it is?" He asked as he scanned the piles of junk directly in front of him quite certain that the cauldron remains near the bottom of the pile to his left was the one Malfoy had when Junior threw a firecracker into it turning the Slytherin's face into a swollen mass that probably rivalled the blond's ego.

"That…I don't know" Hermione admitted in a small voice. "Most of the stuff here is more than likely banished here once it's been deemed no longer useful, or broken while the rest was taken in by students who wished to hide something they'd rather not let others see- possibly illegal drugs used for aide during Owl and Newt exams. And, judging by some of these scrolls half buried at the bottom of this pile, I'd say this room has been in use since the start of Hogwarts"

In short, Orphen and Hermione were searching for a needle in what was probably the world's oldest and largest haystack. With no other options, the summoning charm did not work on it apparently, the two set themselves to the task of moving through the miniature mountains of knickknacks unsure as where to start or even if the Horcrux was actually even in here. It was made doubly difficult due to the fact that, every now and again, Hermione would come across a book which was either missing half its pages or part soggy or burnt. Depending on its quality, the witch would either begin ranting about people treating books the wrong way or even reading what was still legible forcing Orphen to back track several times to wrench the book from her hands and toss it over several piles away from them before pulling her along with him in the opposite direction.

"There was no need to do that!" Hermione whined after watching the fifth book wrenched from her hands take to the air. "You could be knocking over piles or worse, damaging the book and any others it comes into collision with!"

"If it wasn't already damaged, it wouldn't be here" Orphen smoothly countered before turning stern on the witch. "We're here to find the horcrux. If you want to wander here for discarded books, I'll bring you here another day"

While most girls would only be interested in dates if they contained something like a romantic walk around the lake at sunset or perhaps a cosy meal for two at one of the nicer cafes in Hogsmeade, to Hermione, a wander among a room full of discarded items, where a decent portion was sure to be books and tombs of varying damage, was even better. With that thought in mind, the witch immediately dropped the subject in favour of clasping his hand as they continued forward in their search for the elusive tiara.

Unfortunately, it appeared that the diadem either did not want to be found or was further back among the piles of junk. Either way, it did not look as if it was going to be found tonight.

"I was hoping we would have found it by now" Orphen grumbled as they picked their way back towards the entrance to the room.

"At least it's better than wandering around aimlessly while _avoiding_ people" Hermione pointed out. "Providing you skip searching to resume your meetings with the Professor, we will just have to keep coming back each day until every pile has been thoroughly searched"

"And if I don't?" Orphen challenged.

"Then you'll get to experience what Junior and Ronald go through whenever they succeed in making me _lose it_, it you know what I mean" Hermione replied coolly a firmness in her voice that warned Orphen that she was a witch unlike any he had ever witnessed- had he not already knew that from their time together.

Before the assassin could admit defeat and agree to her terms, the sound of something falling over echoed throughout the room causing the two to immediately shut up not even daring to breath. Despite nothing else being heard, Orphen silently motioned for Hermione to follow him as he cautiously made his way along the side of a row of forgotten cupboards with the intent on peeking round to see if anyone was nearby.

Instinct alone forced him to dive back the way he came as an explosion hex struck the cupboard turning it into a mass of splintered wood while more spells struck the other side of the row of cupboards creating more debris, some pieces actually lodging into his body as he ran after Hermione who had wisely took off running the moment the first spell exploded.

"Idiots! I told you to wait until you had a clear view of them!" Malfoy's voice could be heard as the dust and splinters stilled.

"How did Malfoy get in?!" Hermione whispered holding tight to Orphen's shirt as the two huddled behind a moulding bookcase. "The door should have vanished the moment we…!"

Hermione cut herself off as she suddenly looked back in when they first entered the room and had no recollection of neither herself nor Orphen closing the door behind them. Because of this blunder, Malfoy and his troupe of junior Death Eaters could have easily followed in after them assuming someone had been tailing them the moment they had left the Head Common Room.

She would have loved to take a moment to berate herself and Orphen for making such an amateur mistake but the trio of blasting spells forced her to make a mental note as Orphen pulled her further into the maze of junk heaps in the hopes of losing their pursuers.

"Running's not going to do you any good, Potter!" Malfoy shouted out for them to hear. "If you hand over the mudblood and give yourself up, the Dark Lord might let you watch as we show that whore what her proper role in this world is before he kills you!"

Upon realising that the Slytherin ponce had mistaken him for _Junior_ of all people, Orphen was all set to go out there and tear him a new one with his bare hands before Hermione pulled him back to his senses.

"Don't! If you show yourself to them, then Voldemort might learn of your existence!" The witch told him as she pulled him along with all her might. "Just let them think you're that dung heap and focus on trying to get us out of here without-"

Assuming someone had gotten ahead of them when Hermione stopped mid-sentence, Orphen quickly put himself in front of her with a spell ready to leave his palm as he took aim at…a vanity?

Unsure as to why Hermione would be silenced by a mere dilapidated dressing table, Orphen almost missed the edge of a small silver tiara sticking out from the sole remaining drawer. Cautiously pulling the drawer out to its full extent, the assassin could not believe his luck upon realising that Malfoy and his cronies had directed them straight to the horcrux albeit unknowingly.

With their primary objective or finding the horcrux successful, the two teens now focused on the pressing matter of escaping from the Room of Requirement without being spotted by the sons of the Death Killers. A matter that was becoming increasingly more urgent by the second, if the fiery glow Orphen had spotted coming from one end of the room was anything to go by.

"We need to move!" He whispered urgently wrapping his arms around Hermione's waist and practically carrying her away from the horcrux towards the exit.

"But what about the horcrux?" Hermione asked as she tried vainly to keep herself on her feet before noticing the smell of burnt wood filling her nostrils and realising what was happening.

"If that fire is what I think it is, we won't need to worry about it anymore!" Orphen answered as he stopped long enough to properly sweep Hermione off her feet before hightailing it to the door of the room.

By now, the flames had progressed further and higher among the mountains of junk already cremating the ones that had been set alight while those nearest were in the midst of being turned to ashes.

With no need to watch where she was going, Hermione looked over Orphen's shoulder to gaze sadly at the destruction of what was sure to have been several ancient artefacts when the flames turned the corner to gaze right at her.

"_Fiendfyre_?! Someone actually taught their offspring to cast fiendfyre?!" She yelled over the roar of the flames as the demonic fire serpent set alight everything it touched like the mythical Midas whose merest touch would turn anything to gold.

Orphen just ignored the witch screaming in his ear, intent on making sure they both got out of here before the flames consumed them also.

**_~#~_**

It had been a while since she had roamed the corridors at night time. But after her little meet with Hermione, Lily had found herself unable to get some shut eye herself so decided that a nice stroll around her old wandering grounds while looking back on a few things would help clear her head and tire her out at the same time.

The main source of her woes was the growing guilt gnawing at her for her abandonment of Harry and how his life might have been had he still been among them. Had Dumbledore not wiped her memory or her son before she came to, would she have turned the very Earth upside-down in search for her son, be it his corpse or living self? What about if none of this had to happen, what kind of childhood would he have had?

While uncertain of Harry's time before Hogwarts should things have turned out differently, Lily could easily picture Harry getting into Gryffindor and build a strong relationship with Hermione. It would have probably started as a simple rivalry at first, she reckoned, which would then blossom into romance probably sometime during third or fourth year finishing with the two of them becoming a couple sometime during fifth year.

But it did not happen that way and Lily was forced to see Harry not as her son but some mere ally in the fight against Voldemort.

Still, a woman could dream after all. If she were lucky, they might be able to stay in contact with each other. During the holidays, he could visit and tell her about the Creed he was a part of, providing there was no law against that. And, if she was really lucky, he could even take her there.

"Ugh! Like that would ever happen, Lily!" She scoffed to herself as she rounded the corner to notice a door beginning to form on the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

Curious as to who could be using the Room of Requirement at this time of night, assuming it was some sixth or seventh year couple wanting a _private moment_ which was normally the case, Lily made to open the door only to find herself bowled over as two people shot out of the room straight into her with the door slamming shut behind them. Not without the Professor catching a glance of a full blown wildfire dancing in the blackening room, that is.

"You two have five seconds to explain before I drag you to your…" Lily's strict teacher nature screeched to a halt when she suddenly realised _who _had just ran into her. "I'm pretty sure tomorrow is Thursday, Mr Orphen"

"I'm beginning to wish I had waited until then to let Hermione know about what I was looking for myself" Orphen grumbled as he rolled onto his back as he recovered from the headache he was feeling. "Sorry about that, by the way"

"Normally I kick the bastard in the nuts for throwing me to the ground, just like I did your father the first time he tried that on me" Lily shrugged as she sat up.

"Bet that forced him to delay his plans" Orphen commented dryly finally managing to stand up once his migraine had subsided.

"Only until the next weekend, he was gentler that time" Lily admitted before pulling back before the assassin realised his mistake. "So, what were you two doing in there?"

She dearly wanted to add some embarrassing comment about the two teens Friday night activities in hopes of at least getting Orphen to blush but felt that she was pushing it enough as it is.

"Horcrux hunting. There's…well, _was_ one inside the Room of Requirement until several Slytherins set the room on fire" Orphen explained as he helped the two witches to their feet.

Lily frowned, as she had heard no sounds of running feet even if she was away in her own world. She would have to make a call to Dumbledore and Severus, the latter in order to do a head count of his students to see if there were anyone missing and possibly now dead.

"You two should be lucky the Headmaster is a light sleeper, assuming he's not already alerted to what's happened, the meddling old bastard" Lily added under her breath as she made to lead the teens to Dumbledore's office only to be stopped when Orphen spoke up.

"Hermione doesn't need to be there. I can easily explain it for both our sakes" He told the Professor before turning away looking rather embarrassed all of a sudden. "Plus…the two of us do have some catching up to do"

It took all of Lily's remaining strength to smile widely at his words.

"I suppose you could fill me in on what happened with Junior during third year- assuming there was anything _adventurous_ going on with him concerning say a certain hippogriff suddenly escaping or perhaps with Voldemort or one of his echoes or henchmen. Nothing to do with girls and the like, if you know what I mean" Lily said as she and Orphen made their way down the hall towards Dumbledore's office leaving a grinning Hermione to watch them go barely able to contain her laughter as Orphen's form became more hunched at the digs the Professor was throwing his way

**_~#~_**

"And you are certain it was Potter who was in there?!" Voldemort demanded of Draco Malfoy as the teen quivered in front of him.

"Yes, my Lord. He and the mudblood were in there so that no one could see him screwing the wench seeing as he is still with that weasel girl" Draco answered quickly before finding himself curled on the ground under the torture curse like the rest of the seventh year Slytherins he had taken with him.

"While I commend you for your intuition, young Draco, your idiocy in believing you could destroy Potter with fiendfyre has lost you those points" Voldemort drawled coldly at the prone form of the boy. "Next time, it will not be points that I _take_ from you"

Draco remained where he was, the memory of seeing his father after what the Dark Lord had done to him quickly making him understand what would happen the next time he failed.

Making a sweeping motion with his hand to signal his men to remove the tortured teens from the room, as well as everybody else, Voldemort allowed a quiet snarl to escape his lips at the foolish spawn of Malfoy's actions. Thanks to him, he was now another Horcrux down even if he did gain something interesting in return…

**_~#~_**

_Review if possible & until next time_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_

**_Happy Halloween!_**


	18. 18th Contract

_Disclaimer's on chapter 1_.

**~#~**

**The Troublesome Task Ahead**

**~#~**

"Are you awake yet?"

"No" Hermione replied quietly ignoring the tickling sensation around her ear as Orphen's lips caressed it. Truth be told, it was remarkable that either of them were up early on a Saturday morning after their activities the night before.

Apparently satisfied with her answer, Orphen buried his face back into Hermione's mane of curling locks as he tightened his hold around her slender waist. He rather enjoyed the perk about Hermione having her own room now that she was Head Girl as it now allowed him to wake up with her in his arms and remain there until either of them decided to get up which was definitely less risky than the last couple of years whenever Orphen came to visit her although the scant few times they were almost caught did add a certain thrill to it.

It was almost an hour later when Hermione began to fidget. A certain part of her wizard's anatomy was digging into the small of her back making her aroused and uncomfortable until she finally managed to move it so that it was now located between her legs pressing against the gates to her core. By now however, her wizard had grown tired of her fidgeting and made his frustration known by rolling over so that she was now sandwiched between the mattress and Orphen.

"For someone who's not awake, you sure are tossing and turning a lot" He whispered in Hermione's ear as he wrapped both arms firmly around her middle to prevent her from attempting to escape.

"Well, it would be your own fault for my inability to get comfortable. You probably have no idea how sore I am downstairs after the buggering you gave me last night" Hermione rebuked trying to ignore the tickling sensation her fingers were doing to her spare and lower ribs. "A real man would make sure that his lover is properly looked after rather than treat her like a toy"

"Then let me make up for my mistreatment right now" Orphen replied huskily before he began making a trail of kisses from Hermione's lobe to the back of her neck then slowly worked his way down her back making sure to kiss each and every vertebrae on his way down.

For her part, Hermione attempted to lie where she was and keep still which was becoming harder as with each kiss he left on her spinal cord she felt a shiver pulse throughout her entire body enough so that she was sure she would climax before he reached the lower end.

As he left the thoracic vertebrae and moved down to the lumbar, Hermione was almost reaching her limit when the sound of someone knocking at the door to her room caused her to freeze up. Orphen too had forgotten about the administrations he was giving to Hermione as he stared at the door as if fearing that the moment he even started to pull his eyes away from it and attempt to disappear it would open and reveal him to whoever could be up at this time in a morning.

Fortune seemed to be smiling on them this morning, as instead of hearing the sound of the door opening, a sheet of parchment slid under the door before taking flight in a non-existent draught and sailed right over to them to be plucked by the assassin's hand when he came within reach.

"What is it?" Hermione asked as she moved so that she could read the note over Orphen's shoulder.

"An apology and summons" Orphen replied as he browsed over the parchment's contents. "A sorry for interrupting us and a request for me to meet up with the Headmaster as soon as possible"

Hermione did not know whether to be relieved or frustrated at the news. On the one hand, it appeared that whoever the messenger was, no doubt Professor Potter seeing as she had caught them in bed before, knew that there was a chance of interrupting something going on in the room and had wisely left a note instead of entering and, by all rights, removed from the face of the earth regardless of the importance of the message. On the other hand, it meant that the chance of a lazy Saturday in bed with her lover would have to wait until next week providing she could finish all her course and homework beforehand.

"It probably won't be for long" Orphen told her as if reading the witch's mind. "Dumbledore might just be wanting to inform me about what his double agent's found out about what happened on Wednesday"

Hermione nodded her head in acceptance as she accepted Orphen's embrace as the two stood up for one last kiss before the two of them began to get dressed. Or at least would have had Hermione suddenly lower herself in front of Orphen puzzling the assassin in the process until she grabbed his still erect member and began taking care of it before Orphen could stop her.

**~#~**

"Well, well, well. Look who has finally decided to appear" Lily teased as the portrait to the Head Boy and Girl dorms opened to reveal the assassin in question. "I take it Hermione needed to be calmed down before she allowed you to go?"

Orphen wisely refrained on commentating that it was not his witch that needed calming down and instead began walking briskly down the quiet hallway towards the Headmaster's office with the Professor hot on his heals with a knowing grin on her face.

"If I may be bold enough to ask, would you mind filling me in on anything that happened during the quidditch finals while we walk?" Lily asked seeing as they were likely to be one of the few to be up and about before nine in the morning during the weekend. "I'm sure you and your friend were there, obviously because Junior was there also just in case something happened, which did and I'm just curious as to…Sorry. Rambling again, aren't I?"

"I'm used to it" Orphen shrugged easily recalling all the times another bright witch had gone on for what could easily have been hours at a time only shutting up when she finally stopped to breath or when he covered her lips with his own. That said, he was very glad the Professor here was wise enough to shut herself up- he certainly did not wish to use the latter on her.

And so, for the rest of the trip to Dumbledore's office, Orphen began to tell her about what happened during and after the world cup final. Not much really happened during the final other than Mahado somehow finding himself getting caught in an argument with several females over the vulgar and brutality of quidditch- an argument that, even to this day, the gun mage is still trying to figure out how he got caught up in it. The real drama happened afterwards when the Death Eaters made their debut return and kicked up a ruckus among the campsites.

While Mahado remained behind and used subtle strikes to deflect deadly spells from their targets- preventing Rita Skeeter's 'rumour' from being actual fact than fiction- Orphen proceeded to tail Junior and his friends just in case the ruckus was just a distraction to allow someone to off the Boy-Who-Lived. For once, it was just how Junior had told it when his father found and almost stunned him and the Weasley offspring not long after.

"Too bad you didn't realise Barty Crouch Junior was there under a disillusion charm" Lily remarked before gasping upon realising how that might have sounded to the assassin.

"Even if I had noticed him, Voldemort probably had a back-up plan to use" Orphen shrugged a few minutes later allowing the Professor to finally breathe a sigh of relief over not offending him with her words.

"Or did you and decided to just let it play out and see what happens like what the Head-bastard did when Junior was elected for the Triwizard tournament?" Lily suddenly interrogated causing Orphen to stop in his tracks and stare at her like she had grown an extra head.

"I'll…let you think about it for a while" Orphen finally got out after recovering from hearing the Professor curse a fellow teacher. Part of him wondered if it was just because she had been against it when it happened or if other factors recently come to light had changed her opinion of the school Headmaster. Regardless of what happened, the assassin was beginning to realise that this was a witch not to be taken lightly a fact all too similar with Hermione, come to think of it.

The rest of the trip went in silence after that and for once, Orphen rather preferred to hear her rambling on to her silence. He would not admit it, but when the Professor was all quiet like just now, it actually intimidated him slightly. When they reached the statue that lead to the Headmaster's office, he was actually relieved when Professor Potter gave the statue the password before leaving saying something about finishing what she started at the beginning of term if she went up with him if he heard her right.

Making his way up the spiralling staircase, the assassin barely managed to bring his hand up to knock when a wizened old voice inside called out for him to enter. Doing so, Orphen was not surprised to see that he was not the only person to be invited to the Headmaster's office this fine morning. Excluding the Heads of the Hogwarts houses, Sirius Black was also present for some strange reason.

"Ah, Mister Orphen. I first offer my sincerest apologies for calling on you so early but was not sure if this information could wait until later" Dumbledore greeted before turning to Snape who was standing in a shaded corner of the office either unused to sunlight due to his time spent teaching in the dungeon, was not a morning person or had yet to get any sleep.

"It turns out that the attack on yourself and Miss Granger, although I do not wish to know why she was with you at the time, was planned by Draco Malfoy and his house cohorts _without_ the Dark Lord's knowledge. Apparently, they believed you to be Potter when the two of you left the dorms and proceeded to the Room of Requirements" Snape said quietly yet audible at the same time somehow. "Evidently, they believed you were taking Miss Granger there to 'get between her legs' without Miss Weasley's knowledge according to them"

Orphen bristled at the remark but said nothing as the potions master continued.

"From what I gathered from them, when they could no longer find you, they foolishly decided to burn the room down nearly killing themselves if it weren't for their portkeys. After putting all of them under the cruciatus curse, the Dark Lord sent for me to make sure they were healed and brought back to Hogwarts before turning in himself evidently weakened from losing another piece of himself"

"Guess you owe those nibblers one, kid" Sirius joked although he was the only one to crack a smile at it.

"Regardless of what they have done, I overheard from some of the other Inner Circle that the Dark Lord is now constantly asking Bellatrix about something and if it's safe" Snape added which quickly caught Orphen's attention.

"Another horcrux?" The assassin asked.

"If so, Bella would have probably stored it in her private vault at Gringotts knowing her" Sirius replied for him. "Not even I, as Head of the Ancient House of Black, can gain access to it"

"Even my own connections with the goblins cannot get me that far" Dumbledore put in. "And I fear they may have increased their security after Tom's failed attempt to acclaim the Stone when it was still there. At least we know the location of another horcrux leaving us one less to find if the sixth is Nagini and assuming the pendant has been taken care of"

Dumbledore was referring to the pendant that was supposed to have been in one of the locations he had given to Mehmet at the beginning of term for his Creed to hunt down. Unfortunately, the pendant had been moved at an earlier date yet the contents of the fake clearly stated that Voldemort was not yet wise to the steal.

"I think I might be able to shed some light on who may have taken it" Sirius said after a moment. "The other day, I found Kreacher, my house elf, bawling over a few things of my late brother gone missing. I almost paid it no attention until he cried something about 'failing to destroy the locket for his master'"

That got the attention of everyone in the room. It turned out that Sirius' younger brother, Regulus Black, had apparently followed in his brother's footsteps but decided to defeat Voldemort from the inside rather than out. While evidently losing his life to claim one of Voldemort's soul fragments, he had ordered Kreacher to finish what he started but could not even scratch the surface and not from lack of trying either.

"After hearing the story from Kreacher, I ordered him to hunt down Dung, being the thief that he is, to which the little bugger did with such gusto I wouldn't have been surprised if he had keeled over dead from the effort"

"Did Mundungus have it?" Dumbledore inquired only to be met with a shake of the head.

"He did, but someone stole it from him" Sirius replied sadly.

"A fine example of the muggle saying about no honor among thieves" Snape scoffed causing Sirius to round on him.

"Another saying comes to mind, Snivelus: 'Pot calling the kettle black!' And I am not talking about my family line, either!""

"Gentlemen!" Dumbledore called out defusing the argument before spells were the next thing to fly between the two. "Unfortunate as that may be, we still at least, have the locations of two of the horcrux. If we can discover what item Tom has given Bellatrix to hide, we may have found three of the last remaining pieces of his soul and can now focus on removing them from this world"

After tempers had been cooled, it was decided that Orphen, along with his Creed, find a way into the lower echelons of the Gringotts vault network where Bellatrix vault was located while Sirius was to ask Kreacher and see if he could hunt down the robber who robbed Mundungus Fletcher leaving Snape to his usual job of keeping his ears open and his nose to the ground- there was no need to attempt anything on Nagini at this moment without further alerting Voldemort, after all.

With his task issued to him, Orphen proceeded back to the Head Dormitory knowing that he had the task now of informing Hermione that he may not be around for a while.

**~#~**

_That's all for this chapter. It'll keep you on the edge of your seat to find out what happens next, I hope._

_Review if possible & until next time…_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_


	19. 19th Contract

_Disclaimer on chapter 1_

_**~#~**_

**Last Minute Farewells**

_**~#~**_

"_Bonsoir_!" Fleur called out as she entered the safe house Mahado and Orphen were residing in while in London.

Despite receiving no reply from the seemingly abandoned flat, Fleur calmly made her way inside after securely locking the door both muggle and magical ways. While the living room appeared empty when she came in, she showed no surprise when two familiar figures seemingly appeared out of nowhere when she flicked the lights on.

"How did it go?" Orphen asked as he sat down in one of the plush armchairs.

"That all depends on what you think of the information I have yet to tell" Fleur replied cryptically as she placed herself in Mahado's lap the moment the gunmage assassin had gotten comfy in the other armchair. "I can easily confirm for you that your mission shall be _tres impossible_ from what I have seen, heard and learned while there this afternoon"

"We're not exactly average wizards here, Fleur" Mahado pointed out to which the French information gatherer had to concede.

"Well, for starters, be thankful that my account with Gringots was transferred to a British Isles vault instead of remaining oversees in my home country as I would still be there if it were. That aside, the goblins have made several changes to their underground security measures since what happened here several years ago" Fleur began. "The moment carts depart from the bank, they pass through a Thieves Downfall which are now situated at the beginning and end of each and every tunnel leading to the lower levels. The first are mere light showers but it gradually gets worse so that you are passing under a waterfall by the time you exit the tunnel to the lowest of levels"

"That rules out hijacking a cart" Mahado grumbled although they were already expecting the easiest of routes to have been the most secure.

"There are foot tunnels leading downwards. From what I could gleam from them, there are beasts patrolling all tunnels which vary depending on the level so it shall be safe to assume dragons shall probably be near the bottom among the richest of vaults with creatures such as chimeras, golems, serkhets, vespids, trolls and such on the other levels" Fleur supplied before the next question could be asked. "They were unresponsive to my 'charms' so I was unable to get much else from them other than each vault can be given added security by either the goblins or the vault owner themselves"

Given that the two assassins were tasked with reaching the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange, where a possible horcrux may lie, their trip most likely looked to be taking them to the lowest of caverns to say nothing of whatever spells the mad witch had cast upon her riches assuming they had not been confiscated or liquidated during her time in Azkaban. To most people, it was a task few would dare speak about let alone accomplish.

"And so, after a week of prodding the edges of this dangerous anthill, we have confirmed several things: Their downfalls cancel any spell and or potion fueled means of tricking the goblins; there are likely to be wards to prevent any sort of magical transportation like short distance apparitions and even my shadow walk in and out of the place; any and all tunnels leading to the lower levels of the bank are likely to wind up in us facing creatures or just roaming them until we eventually die" Mahado voiced after a minute of silence.

"If we're lucky, the Black Gate will still work even through all their defences so getting out will be the easy part" Orphen put in.

"If I may ask, why do you not use your disappearing trick to get in?" Fleur asked confused as to why they were not using the Creed's usual mode of transportation to get in as well as get out if it were that easy.

"The Black Gate requires us to know our location's layout unless we want to wind up splinched or fused with a wall or tree- or another person" Mahado provided causing Fleur to shudder at the thought.

It certainly pointed out why this mission was going to be long and arduous on the two assassins. The past week alone had been nothing more than observing and testing the mere tip of the iceberg that was the Gringots bank to say nothing of the horrors and unknown entities that lay below the surface. Even enlisting Fleur to discover what she could inside served little but confirm what they had already deduced.

By the look of things, it was highly likely that both Orphen and Mahado were going to have to somehow sneak into the building then immediately move into one of the side tunnels and somehow make their way down, level by level until they reached the specific vault all the while making sure to avoid or bypass whatever traps and creatures that lay between them and their objective. With all that said, it was evident that this was going to more than a simple one day, in-and-out job.

"Any ideas as to how long you will be?" Fleur asked having a feeling that they would be taking their time to get through this mission.

"Days, weeks, maybe even a month or two" Orphen confessed not entirely sure himself how long they were going to be down there devoid of all contact to the rest of the world.

Humming as she mused what Orphen just told her, the French witch got up from Mahado's lap and walked over to where the younger assassin was sitting so that she was now standing in front of him with her arms crossed.

"Why then are you still here?" She inquired.

"Because we've yet to properly prepare ourselves for the mission" Orphen said slowly unsure as to why Fleur was suddenly so impatient with him.

"_Incroyable_!" Fleur muttered in response to the assassin's stupidity. "I am referring to your maiden! Surely you do not wish to leave her alone for so long without first giving her the chance to give you something to remember her by until the next time you meet?"

Orphen could only stare at Fleur until his mind caught up with him and informed him that she was talking about Hermione. While he did tell her that he was going to be away for a while, he had not been very specific with the details on it or how long he would be away from her. In response, the witch merely nodded before asking him to politely buzz off as she had some studying she needed to catch up on for the upcoming Charms class despite being ahead of the appointed curriculum by at least a week.

"Go to her" Fleur insisted. "It is not like everything will be ready overnight"

While hesitant to listen to the French witch's suggestion, Orphen eventually conceded and disappeared to visit his witch before having to go underground leaving just Fleur and Mahado alone in the flat.

"If I did not know any better, I'd say you thought of him as your little brother" Mahado commented as Fleur made her way back his lap.

"Well, I know that mentioning his parentage is a rather life threatening subject for those he does not trust fully, so I had to think of a position that would not earn his hatred" Fleur remarked while making herself comfy again. "Besides, we are all alone right now. Does that not tell you something?"

"That you are nothing more than a sex starved nymph wanting her itch scratched?" Mahado inquired cheekily looping one arm around her waist as his free hand began moving up Fleur's leg and under the folds of her skirt to what was hiding beneath the fabric.

"I'll have you know, veela do not go about offering ourselves to just anyone unlike those peasants!" Fleur snapped heatedly despite feeling the assassin's fingers enter her womanhood and stimulate her sensitive bud. "We are only like this with our mate who can be male _or_ female, I might add"

"Could have fooled me" Mahado teased as he fondled the witch's most sensitive of areas earning a low moan from her as she tried to resist the enjoyable sensation he was putting her through.

Deciding to put his tongue to a better use before saying something that would invoke her wrath upon him, Fleur pressed her lips against Mahado's slipping her tongue into his mouth before he knew it and putting him on the back foot of their little dance. With the ball in her court, the veela began to press her advantage slipping one leg over so that she was now straddling his waist and began grinding against him knowing that his manhood was stirring beneath the fabric underneath her.

Allowing her the lead role for the moment, Mahado pulled his hands away from their current positions against Fleur to her chest to pry open her shirt with practiced ease along with her front clasp bra letting her breasts bounce free from restraints before clasping them firmly in his hands. Letting a moan out as the assassin fondled her breasts, Fleur returned the favour by grabbing Mahado's shirt and pulling it up forcing the two to separate as the article of clothing reached his neck.

Slipping herself off his lap once more, Fleur knelt down on the floor as she aided Mahado in slipping out of his trousers and boxers in one motion allowing his manhood to finally spring free from their restraints. With nothing else to hold either of them back, Fleur gracefully pulled herself onto Mahado's lap slipping the engorged phallus into her womanhood as she lowered herself until it was completely inside of her immediately arching back as a wave of immense pleasure crashed over her.

"No matter how many times we do this…" She muttered as she recovered from her high before Mahado kissed her making her forget what she wanted to say to him as they began to move against one another filling the room with their moans.

"Never gets old for you?" Mahado asked when they came up for air.

"To a veela, it only gets old when our sexual appetites are appeased within minutes of beginning" The French witch told him. "That or our mate's stamina wears out well before us"

Catching the insinuation in her words, Mahado lifted Fleur off of his member and stood up causing the witch to moan in displeasure before finding herself shoved face first into the chair with her lower half draped over one of the arms. Before she could even begin to look over her shoulder to ask him what he was doing, Mahado rammed his member back into her love canal with such force that she found herself almost screaming in rapture.

"We'll see whose stamina gives first!" Mahado panted in her ear between thrusts to which Fleur could only moan back in lieu of a reply as the speed of his assault left her nearly dizzy with pleasure. "It's gonna be a _long_ night!"

"For both our sakes…" Fleur managed to mutter suddenly finding the strength to roll the off the chair and onto the floor with a thump as Mahado took the brunt of the fall allowing her to change positions once more now that she was on top again. "It better be!"

_**~#~**_

Sighing in sadness, as well as frustration over being unable to motivate herself enough to finish off the last part of her Potions homework, Hermione dropped her quill back in the ink pot on her desk before stretching her arms. While managing to hide it from the Professors and students for the past week, the witch really just could not find the energy to do anything these days.

It was not like Orphen had not visited several times in a row every once in a while. In his line of work, it was only natural for her to assume that he would be too busy to see her once a week. Then again, all those other times he had been away, she did not have any idea of what he was doing or how dangerous his side job was therefore not able to truly know if he was in the thick of things against some dangerous death eater or just silently spying on one of Voldemort's bases.

Of course, it was not just that that was troubling her mind. Once the year was over, the Creed's seven year contract with the Headmaster would be at its end and they would just move on to their next assignment regardless of whether Voldemort was taken care of or not. That was not to say that the Creed would just forget about what was happening in Wizarding Great Britain, but the fact still remained that there was the possibility that Orphen would just forget about her also.

So lost in her thoughts she failed to notice the object of her musings appear in her room and had remained a safe distance from her lethal hook just awaiting her to notice him- _five minutes ago_, that is.

Seeing as Hermione was too engrossed in some mental conference with herself to realise she had a guest, Orphen gently cleared his throat. While succeeding in getting Hermione's attention, the startled witch toppled off of her chair only to be saved at the last moment from colliding with the floor.

"Prat!" Hermione swore as Orphen pulled her upright slapping him hard on the shoulder for good measure.

"You're welcome" The assassin casually replied in return keeping his arms locked around the witch's waist.

Hermione kept quiet as she leaned against Orphen the questions in her mind still churning around keeping her from fully enjoying the company of her wizard for what was sure to be a while.

"Are you alright?" Orphen asked slightly worried. Normally by now, she would have at least returned with some witty remark before holding him close to her.

"I'm fine" Hermione replied lifting her head up to look into those pools of dark emerald that was gazing down at her as if trying to hypnotize her. "Just haven't been able to relax much these days with all the schoolwork and news of Voldemort's lackeys latest attack as well as constantly worrying about my parents and you"

Orphen nodded his head in understanding. While he could not relate to her with her troubles due to their separate paths through life for the last seventeen-eighteen years, he knew that she was more attached to other people in her life other than him due to his line of work. To him, most people he met were either fellow leaving or returning from their own jobs, clients or his targets all of which were either fleeting moments of contact or extremely brief depending on which of the aforementioned they were.

Gently scooping up Hermione in his arms, Orphen carried the troubled witch over to the window seat where the last few rays of the sun could still be seen sinking behind the landscape and sat down with her in his lap. Already expecting as such, Hermione shifted about to get comfortable before resting her head against his chest the sound of his strong heartbeat relaxing her with its tempo.

"Orphen…" She murmured suddenly feeling tired as if all the fatigue of the past week was suddenly catching up to her.

The assassin merely hummed in response apparently drifting off himself.

"…no. It's nothing" Hermione muttered losing the courage to say what she wanted instead using the last of her strength to tighten her grasp around his waist before nodding off.

If Orphen was confused by her sudden mysterious, he was too tired himself to press her for what she was trying to tell him. Unable to fight the tiredness washing over him, the deadly young wizard kissed her forehead before gently resting his own on top of hers as his eyelids began to close of their own accord. For now, rest in peaceful embrace of his witch was the objective as tomorrow brought the start of one of the assassin's most tedious assignments to date.

_**~#~**_

_Sorry if it's not as long as you'd hoped, folks. Life's been giving me a misfortunate time as of late so I'm having trouble focusing on writing lately._

_Until next time…_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you all!_


	20. 20th Contract

_Disclaimer is on chapter 1_

_**~#~**_

_**Goodbyes & Good Starts**_

_**~#~**_

It was before dawn's first light when Hermione stirred from her slumber the steady beat of Orphen's heart against her ear telling her that her wizard was still with her. As much as she wanted to remain like this with him, entwined in each other's embrace on the window seat, Hermione reluctantly decided to waken up her still slumbering lover. Shifting herself slightly, the witch gently pressed her lips against Orphen's.

Slowly coming round at the feeling of Hermione's lips against his own, Orphen returned the kiss shifting his grip around her to embrace her better. Smiling slightly at the reaction she drew out of him, Hermione deepened the kiss pressing her tongue against his lips for it to slide effortlessly pass through and entangle with his own. Now fully awakened, Orphen broke off the kiss before pulling himself to his feet taking Hermione with him.

Saddened at the break off, Hermione detached herself from Orphen only to have the assassin pull her into his arms again to continue where they left off taking advantage of her surprised state to turn the favour from earlier to slip his tongue into her mouth. While surprised at first, Hermione soon moaned into Orphen's mouth as she felt one hand slip south to caress her backside. Wanting more than just the feel of his hands on her, Hermione took the more dominating role for once forcing Orphen backwards until the backs of his legs connected with the bed causing him to collapse backwards and take Hermione with him.

"You seem to be horny this morning" Orphen chuckled from where he lay.

"Well, obviously you came here last night for more than just a quick hello and goodbye before your next assignment" Hermione told him as she moved down to work Orphen's trousers. "And I'm sure your little friend here would like to be relieved of some stress before you go"

Freeing Orphen's so-called 'little friend' from its confinement, Hermione quickly pulled off her own jeans and underwear before sitting herself on Orphen's hips with his member now trapped between her butt cheeks and flush against her glistening nether lips forcing Orphen to groan as she began to make circular motions with her hips creating a pleasant friction for both of them.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Orphen groaned at the pleasurable torture she was putting him through.

"Maybe" Hermione teased moving herself down so that she was pressing his member harder against her opening getting another moan out of Orphen. "Perhaps I should take up torture as a pastime, what do you think?"

"That I should question you for _who_ you wanted to torture" Orphen began slipping a hand under Hermione's shirt to fondle her breasts. "And _how_"

"Don't worry, _you'll_ be the only one I torture" Hermione assured him bending down for a heated kiss inadvertently pushing down more on Orphen's raging member.

Sensing her lover beginning to reach his limit, Hermione decided to let up on her torture treatment this time around and jump right to the main play. Lifting her hips up to relieve the strain on his member, Hermione slipped a hand between her legs to guide the throbbing shaft into her moist opening her inner walls embracing it tightly within seconds of entering. No sooner had he entered her, Orphan began thrusting his hips upwards causing Hermione to let out a surprised moan as his member disappeared entirely inside of her.

The one moan soon became several as Hermione began to slam down against Orphan's hips in a steady rhythm until she eventually collapsed on him as the pleasure became almost too much for her to bear. Still, it took another two minutes for her to climax her walls squeezing Orphen's member with a vicelike grip that nearly caused him to cum also.

Despite having already climaxed, Hermione managed to find the strength to keep going on. With his own climax almost upon him, Orphen clasped Hermione's backside with both hands aiding in moving her up and down on his shaft sitting up for better leverage until he exploded inside of her not much later.

Panting as the afterglow washed over them, the two lovers exchanged sloppy kisses with each other until they mustered the strength to pull themselves apart and off the bed. While Orphen then began to dress himself again, Hermione sat herself on the edge of the bed and just watched him not bothering to change yet given how early it still was.

"How long do you think you'll be?" She asked eventually after Orphen finished buckling up his belt and boots.

"Don't know" Was his honest reply as he looked over at Hermione admiring her as she sat there in just a shirt looking at him with her ever curious eyes. "All I know is that this one's going to take a while"

"You will think of me while you're out there, won't you?" She asked trying not to show the doubt she had over the future of their relationship.

"What are you talking about?" Orphen asked stepping in front of her and pulling Hermione to her feet and embracing her tightly. "You're the only thing preventing me from killing _him_ ever since we met. Why would I _not_ think of you?"

"I know…" Hermione smiled as she snuggled into his embrace. "But…it still makes me worry"

"You shouldn't" Orphen told her snaking one hand up her back to disappear underneath the bushy hair to the back of her neck. "Don't worry about me"

"With you and your line of work, not very likely" Hermione argued looping her arms around his neck. "Not even if you were to reward me for it"

Unable to keep it in, Orphen smiled giving one last lingering kiss before finally, reluctantly, detaching himself from Hermione and stepping away from her.

"Be safe" Hermione called after him as he disappeared.

_**~#~**_

"Enjoying your sleep" A voice to Mahado's left inquired forcing the assassin to lift his head up to see Orphen from where he was lying.

"You are kidding, right?" He grumbled as he lifted himself off of Fleur to check the clock to see what time it was. "Barely got to bed an hour ago…And I don't mean that _literally_!"

Moaning in her sleep at the loss of her human blanket getting up and ready for the day, Fleur merely turned over exposing her nude derriere to the two assassins.

"So, how did your night go?" Mahado inquired as the two assassins exited the safehouse.

"Not as eventful as yours" Orphen threw back. "We slept first _then_ screwed. That way, we've used up our excess energy but are still ready for the day ahead"

"Sounds boring" Mahado remarked as they walked down the road towards their target.

"Sensible" Orphen corrected. "Not all of us are part Veela or...living darkness with huge sex drives"

"Meh, as muggles say: poe-tay-toe, poe-tah-toe" Mahado shrugged off.

Talking soon came to a halt as they neared the Leaky Cauldron the last checkpoint before the start of their underground treasure hunt for horcrux hidden within the Lestrange vault. Slipping in and through inconspicuously was easy for them, like a breeze drafting through a window open ajar. Getting into Gringotts however was going to take all the skill and finesse both assassins could muster.

First were the front doors where a small trickle of early morning patrons were already coming and going from the bank before starting their day- easily done by merging with those entering the bank without having to break a sweat even if the crowd thickness was lower than they were hoping.

Now inside, the assassins had to remain inconspicuous to the many goblin guards standing on duty around the outskirts of the large chamber as well as the goblin bankers currently not tending to wizards and witches. The wait until a wizard or witch arrived to make a withdrawal from their account was shorter than they were expecting in the form of one Ministry Official the two assassins were very familiar with.

"Didn't know toads got served here" Mahado noted as they quickly slipped out of the blind spot they were lurking in to another as one of the guards moved down the hall a few metres for a new perspective on his surroundings.

Orphen just remained silent too busy refraining from killing Umbridge for the slandering she gave Hermione during fifth year when she questioned the former Defence Professor's teaching methods. Were it not for Hermione telling him to let it go and that she could not care less what the old toad said about her, Orphen would have probably killed the ministry witch during her first class.

The next few minutes were going to be very tense.

"Let's go!" Mahado whispered urgently quickly grabbing hold of Orphen's sleeve with one hand while thrusting his free hand into the shadow of the wall up to his elbow.

Tugging Orphen with him, the two assassins slipped into the shadow unnoticed by anyone who could be looking in their direction. Slipping across the marble floor from one shadow to the next until they were residing in Umbridge's shadow while the witch sprouted whatever nonsense nobody gave Hungarian Horntail droppings about until the clerk arrived to take her down to her vault.

Completely oblivious to the extra baggage she was transporting in her shadow, Umbridge continued to mutter about the lack of respect and manners the subspecies, also known as goblins, and how their underground system disgusted her especially with their barbaric manner of transport. She had no idea how fortunate she was, as she stepped into the cart, that her hitchhikers had already slipped away as she began spouting tripe about muggleborn mages trying to usurp the true wizarding ruling class.

"How in the world is she still in office after the new Minister came to power?!" Orphen snarled the moment he came out of the shadow after the cart had rolled off down the track.

"You know the saying: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer" Mahado quoted as he stepped out more calmly and took in his surroundings. "Well, that's the hard part done"

Orphen merely nodded before the two assassins hopped onto the track and began to nimbly run along the rail after the cart until the next cave leading down allowed them to jump off and head further down.

Now, it was a game of patience and perseverance.

_**~#~#~#~**_

_Sorry for the late update; life problems & lack of enthusiasm for this hobby lately._

_Review if possible & until next time_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_


	21. 21st Contract

_Disclaimer on chapter 1_

_**~#~**_

**Girl Talk**

_**~#~**_

It had been almost two weeks now since Hermione had said goodbye to Orphen that morning, made all the more realistic the first Friday after his depart when he did not show up. True, this was not the first time since they had first met where there were large time gaps between visits, especially considering his line of work, but this time she knew where Orphen was going and what his objective was this time.

While classes, homework and prefect duties could distract her, they could only do so much before her mind wandered to whether her wizard was still alive. In just ten days, she had completed all her homework for the week, learned the new spells her Charms and Transfiguration classes was supposed to start going over after the weekend and had written up prefect duty rosters for the months of Winter _and_ Spring.

Seeing as her usual fall-backs were completely useless this time around, the almost fully-fledged witch decided to try a different tact and went to visit Professor Potter figuring that, if she could not keep her mind off him, she might as well talk about him and his exploits until he returned to continue where he had left off before going off vault hunting.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Hermione?" Lily asked when the young witch in question arrived in her office at the time Orphen usually appeared. "I'll easily understand if you wish to leave if it becomes too much for you"

"I appreciate the gesture, Professor, but it'll be more therapeutic by doing this" Hermione replied smiling gratefully at the elder witch's understanding before grinning more mischievously. "Besides, I'm sure Orphen's been rather modest about what he had been up to trailing after Junior"

Lily quickly agreed with Hermione's statement, firmly in the belief also that Orphen had been downplaying his part every now and again. It was a sure sign that the assassin took more after her than his father…assuming that was how he would have turned out had he still been with them.

"So, where did Orphen leave off the last time he was here?" Hermione inquired while making herself comfy in the chair she was in.

Lily took a moment to look back on what was said the last time her former son was in her office. "We'd just gotten passed the part about Junior getting picked for the Triwizard Tournament"

She remembered that day well, particularly well into the evening when, in the council of herself, Minerva and Severus, Albus had decided to let Junior participate in order to flush out the one who had nominated him. Apart from Minerva, who was against the idea of using one of her cubs as bait, Lily had almost blew her top at the two supposedly clever professors for going with such a stupid and very risky plan and had half a mind to hex them into toads right there and then.

Despite the objections from the two witches, the plan went through and Junior was declared as the Fourth Champion in what was usually a three school, three champions tournament.

"Not really one of the Headmaster's greatest plans" Hermione agreed apparently thinking along the same lines although for different reasons. "Still, it did mean that Orphen, his partner and I needed to make an impromptu meeting the following night- fortunately for me, it was the weekend…"

_~~~November 1994~~~_

It was not hard for Hermione to slip out of the House of Gryffindor in the early hours of the morning given events of the previous night.

No sooner had Junior's name been spat out by the Goblet of Fire did the Weasley twins sneak away at the first chance for party supplies to throw a Gryffindor style party for the Boy-Who-Lived the moment he returned from his sudden meet with Dumbledore and the other school heads. And, like all Gryffindor house parties, it finally ended before four in the morning when Professor McGonagall came in and told them all to get to bed.

As such was the case, Hermione reckoned she could have possessed the subtleness and delicacy of a rampaging hippogriff and still exited the common room without disturbing anyone- although she did not dare to attempt something like that in reality. Once out, the young witch made her way to a disused classroom on the sixth floor corridor on the south side of Hogwarts where two familiar hooded wizards were waiting patiently for her in different corners of the room partially hidden by the shadows cast by the morning sun.

Not waiting for either of them to greet her, Hermione made a beeline for Orphen who merely opened his arms for her to step into his embrace.

"Enjoy last night?" Mahado asked once he felt the two had had enough 'alone' time and they could get down to business.

"_No_. Even with silencing charms and runes, they made so much noise I'm amazed the whole school wasn't at the portrait complaining" Hermione ranted before suddenly realising what was wrong with this picture. "What are _you_ doing here? Normally, it's just Orphen I meet after something happens concerning Junior"

She held a valid point. Usually, asides her first year and her first unexpected meet with the assassins, it was just Orphen with whom she would normally see and talk to about the latest she had found out about Junior's latest escapade and quite possibly find out what the young wizard had found out himself although there had not been not much talking between the two of them over the last few months whenever they met up.

"There's a change of plans for this year" Orphen explained. "Because of this Triwizard Tournament, and that one of the Champions happens to be _him_, it's going to take the combined effort of all three of us to find out who was behind setting _him_ up and keeping _him_ alive"

"All three of us?" Hermione echoed not really believing what she was hearing.

"You should start wearing your hair in a ponytail if it's clogging up your hearing" Mahado remarked. "But, to answer your question, yes. Like Orphen said, this is going to take more than just the two of us to handle things this year, although our Mentor has several teams of Adepts prepared just in case things turn out for the worse although it's highly unlikely they will be needed"

"You don't have to accept the offer if you don't want to" Orphen assured her taking her up in his arms again. "I just thought that, with all the help you given us over the years, you could actually work with us like a deputy of sorts"

"Only for the spying and snooping parts- we'll still be doing the dirty work if you know what I mean" Mahado added before Hermione overthought her role as a deputy under the Creed.

Hermione was stunned and flattered, to say the least. While she knew that what she was doing before was merely keeping an ear open for anything related to Junior, not that that was hard considering the kind of boy he was, she never would have thought she would have been offered a possibly more prominent role in the assassins' assignment like this.

"When do I start?" She asked causing Orphen's eyebrows to disappear beneath his bandanna.

_~~~Present~~~_

"Sounds like he was hoping that you wouldn't accept" Lily noted easily picturing Orphen being surprised by the eagerness of the young witch before her when she gave her answer.

"Well, I'm sure Orphen must have let slip a little about what had happened at the end of my second year while telling you about it" Hermione replied with a knowing smile.

"Hmmmm, he might have" Lily answered cryptically although the small grin told the witch all she needed to know. "So, what was your assignment as his underling?"

"Officially become Junior's friend" Hermione told Lily who almost balked at her words. "I know, I told him myself that it wouldn't work out but he told me that, as _brilliant_ as your son was, he was going to need someone who would make sure that he knew the spells he needed for the tasks ahead of him"

Despite the dislike Hermione harboured for the boy, not to mention the urge to hex him every time he mistreated or vandalised a book, it was not really that hard for her to become Junior's friend. All she had to do was meet up with him at breakfast that same day, sit down beside him and blatantly tell him that he did not stand a ghost of a chance without someone with her knowledge aiding him in the tasks ahead even if he did brag about being able to breeze through them. True, she had to 'admit' that she owed him a few times for past events, but Junior swallowed the whole thing hook, line and sinker- after she finally agreed to help him with his homework.

It was a good job that she decided to play along with Orphen's plan as, not even weeks later and right before the start of the first task, Junior came to her asking for her help in getting the summoning spell down to pat.

The only problem actually came from Ginny who, along with many of the other witches in training, believed that she was only being friends with the Boy-Who-Lived just to get into his pants something that actually got worse as the year progressed and Rita Skeeter decided to publish a piece on their 'relationship'. With that going about, it was a wise decision Hermione had made when she planned to go home for the Christmas holidays in case the jealous masses decided to make her look like a whore by claiming she also went out with fellow Champion Victor Krum or Cedric Diggory.

"Surely you must've asked for something in compensation for this" Lily speculated throwing it out in the hopes of changing the subject.

The rosy hue of Hermione's cheeks told the Professor all she needed before the young witch even could open her mouth to answer.

"He took you out on a date?"

"No" Hermione eventually answered unsure how to explain things. "We just…met up every Friday night and…got to know each other better"

That was all Lily needed to hear to decide that she had heard enough for now and bade the young witch goodnight.

**~#~**

"Times like this, you have to wonder how muggles cope without magic" Mahado speculated as he levitated the hunk of lesser dragon meat over the black flame.

"Muggles are more adaptive than what the wizarding world gives them credit for. If it weren't for those on the Wizemgamot that held them back, science and magic might even begin to co-exist side by side by now" Orphen threw back from where he sat at the opening to the underground cave they were currently bunkering in for a while to rest up before moving on. "As it is, they're the ones living in the Stone Age decreeing the understanding of modern technology taboo"

"You reckon the Creed would still be around if the wizarding world had more people like your mother in it?" Mahado inquired cancelling the black flame and taking a bite out of the cooked meat.

In all honesty, Orphen had no idea how to answer that question. Unlike the rest of the wizarding world, the Creed was more up to date with the times in terms of science and technology sometimes even surpassing the muggles at times thanks to people like one Leonardo da Vinci whose Seer blood allowed him to see visions from well ahead of his time and not only aid the Creed but also the wizarding and muggle worlds simultaneously without knowing it.

With that thought in mind, Orphen had to grudgingly admit that he admired the one he might have once called his mother for attempting to pull forward the wizarding world so that it was not lagging so far behind the muggle world.

Anything else he wished to ponder over their current topic was shoved right out of his mind upon spotting one of the Gringotts carts rolling past containing a goblin and one Bellatrix Lestrange.

"It's her!" He almost yelled having not expected to see the witch whose vault they were attempting to rob suddenly pass by.

Immediately, food, rest and recuperation were the furthest from both assassins' minds as they disappeared in a blur of movement after the cart clearly not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth.

**~#~**

_Not really sure about the chapter title, to be honest- it's becoming harder as the chapters role on._

_Review if possible & until next time_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_


	22. SOPA Notice

I found this out from an author of a story!

In is an important notice that will affect everyone on this sight and many others.

I saw this notice in a fic by gamelover41592, as well as seeing/hearing about it on other sites, that SOPA is back. The bill that is threatening to take away our freedoms on the internet is back. Not only back, but it is trying to be passed quietly so nobody notices. SOPA will guarantee that anybody who streams a video, whether it be on youtube, a walkthrough for a video game, or a kid singing a song that is 'copyrighted' they will be treated as a felon. That's one of the highest forms of criminal offense; for something as simple as uploading a video game walkthrough on youtube, playing a song with lyrics of your favorite artist, and even one we all go on, this one right here.

It affects us here on Fanfiction as well. Think it's an exaggeration? Who knows? You're required to do nothing, least of all believe. Shut one's eyes tight, or open one's arms wide. Either way, one's a fool. But belief or not, some things must be accepted. Fanfiction will be attacked for using canon characters in a fanon manner, and who the hell knows what else. This affects all of us, and we can't let it happen.

Some of you will likely claim bullshit, which is understandable. But the author I saw this provided links below to show she was telling the truth. Simply remove the spaces below, and see for yourself.

www . huffingtonpost 2013/08/07/unauthorized-streaming-felony_n_3720479 . html

www . washingtonpost blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/08/05/sopa-died-in-2012-b ut-obama-administration-wants-to-revive-part-of-it /

www . techdirt articles/20130805/12472124074/administration-cant- let-go-wants-to-bring-back-felony-streaming-provis ions-sopa . shtml

www . youtube watch?v=1fTt4K4Cae4

SOPA has been stopped before and damn if we can't do it again. Everything we love that gives lifeblood and character to these fandoms, from fanfics to fanart to video tributes, are being threatened. Everything from here to youtube is in danger of being FUBAR.

America once had the freedom to express themselves, but after the attacks on 9/11/2001, those freedoms began to dwindle in the name of "security." If we lose our collective voice, then who's to say that the US of A won't become like the England in V for Vendetta? We're not making money off of this, we're doing it because we enjoy it, and wish to share our passion with anyone who wants to see it. (And if there's some Government official spying on me or something, oh well. I'm stating my own opinion and it's not bringing any clear or present dangers to anyone's life, liberty, or their pursuit of happiness.)

It feels like one of those "copy and paste this if you're not afraid" statuses from Facebook, combined with an unofficial petition, but copy, paste, and add your name to the growing list if you're against SOPA.

shadowwriter329

Madam Jokudaime Kanaya Maryam

g1rldraco7

Yurei Hanatsuki

Forever Free Evergreen


	23. 22nd Contract

_Disclaimer is on chapter 1_

_**~#~**_

…

_**~#~**_

While having no idea how long they had followed the rails that the cart carrying Bellatrix Lestrange had rolled along just previously, the assassin's had no choice but to call it quits and stop when they reached the next fork in the tracks.

"Dammit!" Orphen swore along with a few more colourful swears in several other languages. "We could have had her"

"On the plus, at least she's giving us a helping hand in finding her vault" Mahado pointed out creating several dark serpents and making them following the two branching tracks in the hopes of seeing where they lead.

While grudgingly agreeing with Mahado, Orphen secretly wished they had been more prepared and ready for when Bellatrix Lestrange had unexpectedly rolled by. That way they may have managed to successfully trail her right to her vault, destroy the horcrux, kill Lestrange and get back to Hermione and see if he could find out what was bugging Hermione the other night before he had left.

"You okay? You look a bit distracted" Mahado asked as they made their way into a nearby cave to hide out in until Lestrange returned from her vault.

"Just puzzled about a few things Hermione mentioned before I left" Orphen admitted after a few moments thought.

"Ah…" the gunslinger exclaimed quietly having a good idea what was going through the young witch's mind concerning his partner. "Well, time _is_ almost up"

Not quite catching onto his partner's train of thought, Orphen merely raised an eyebrow at him hinting that Mahado needed to explain things further for him to grasp what was happening to Hermione.

"Think about it: come Summer of ninety-eight, little boy wonder will no longer be at Hogwarts thus terminating our contract with Whisker-face and letting us get back to the old business" Mahado elaborated. "Not only that, your witch will also be going out into big, bad world without the protection of the school walls _and_ the knowledge that she will no longer be able to see you at least once a week…or night depending on your mood"

"We still managed to see one another during the holidays before" Orphen pointed out.

"'Fraid it's not that simple as before, buddy. She's a fully bloomed young witch with quite the good head on her shoulders. Soon as she's set free, she'll be clawing her way up the wizarding ladder and no doubt attempt to turn the wizarding world upside-down in her quest to bring it into the twenty-first century like several other magic folk of the current and previous generation. With that in mind, even if she wants nothing more than to be held in your arms for the rest of her days, you'll be lucky to spy on her from afar before we're given another job of our own to complete"

Orphen remained silent as he took in his partner's words. If it was true what he was saying, then was his time with Hermione really coming to an end, to never see one another again after the end of the school year? It would certainly explain why Hermione seemed quieter and less expressive than her usual self over the last few visits. With this new revelation, the assassin now found himself wishing that this mission would never end despite wanting the exact opposite for the last six years.

"Isn't there…"

"You know that's not how our creed works" Mahado interrupted knowing just what his protégé was about to ask. "Even if she is a remarkable, talented young witch, she has a family who loves her. The Creed only takes in the abandoned and orphaned, those who have no one else in the world to turn to and have no one to mourn them when their time in this world ends. It's just how it roles with us. We were cast into the shadows and from them, we protect, kill and die without the light even noticing"

Orphen huffed almost childishly before schooling himself. He was a prime example of the creed, abandoned from a young age with nothing left to lose just like most of the Creed these days, usually because of wars both magical and muggle. Given the Ritual of Acceptance from which they were either granted their unique gifts or devoured from within, it was almost a commandment that only those with no more akin to call family were taken in.

Not even those of exceptional talent like Hermione would be allowed a place within its ranks even in their Intelligence Division where killing took a backseat to furthering research into various projects for weapons, spells, lost arts and a plethora of other things.

"So, you're saying I should just stop seeing Hermione, is that it?" Orphen asked eventually.

"I'm just telling you what I think. You wanna keep seeing her after school's over, you'll have to put your heads together and plan something out. Makes a difference from putting your hips together every time you meet" Mahado cheekily replied before taking off down one of the tunnels his mental connection with one of the snakes informing him of a dark arts barrier preventing it from going any further.

It took a moment for Orphen to recover from Mahado's remark before he followed after him the two sticking to the many shadows littering the cave system in case some hapless soul came rolling by on a trolley forcing them to end his or her life.

"Say, how did you and Fleur get to know each other?" Orphen inquired after a while. "There's no way she just fell for you when you saved her from the Bulgarian during the final leg of the tournament"

"Look who's talking" Mahado chuckled flitting from one shadow to another like smoke.

"Hermione only wanted to find me so she could thank me for rescuing her" Orphen defended mimicking his partner's movements. "It was just friendship back then"

"_Sure_ she did. You keep telling yourself that" The gun mage replied before shrugging seeing as there was nothing else to do asides travel down a cave system like ghosts. "Well, if you must know, I first met her back during the quidditch cup final the Summer before"

While it may have seemed to have been an uneventful day for Orphen, minus the brief bout of chaos the Death Eaters stirred up not long into the night, for Mahado, it had been quite a day. After being relieved from watching over the Potter boy by a reluctant Orphen, Mahado made one of his rounds through and around the other campsites surrounding the quidditch pitch if just to snicker at the poor job the magical community was doing in blending in as muggles among things.

After an amusing spectacle involving an Irishman and a Bulgarian, both of which very well versed in the art of modern day muggle fisticuffs and foul language, the gun mage had decided to take a brief walk passed the campsite containing some very fancy looking tents from across the seas bearing the coat of arms of the French Ministry of Magic as well as the Beauxbaton insignia.

Not wanting to be bored to death by the talks of politics and such crap coming from inside the tents and out, Mahado attempted to move through quickly only to find himself nearly colliding with a group of girls entering the campsite while gossiping about the quidditch players featured in tonight's game who they would love to spend an evening with minus a certain blonde who failed to see how people on broomsticks colliding and scoring goals could be so thrilling.

Unable to disappear quickly enough, Mahado was unable to avoid the blonde grabbing his arm and asking what he thought of the sport among other questions about the current topic. Replying enough to answer the questions, Mahado vaguely took note that all the girls in the group seemed to be composed of veela hybrids as well as notice that the blonde had been exerting her 'charm' on him to no effect.

Finally getting the chance to disappear when the bell tolled out signalling the match was soon to begin, Mahado almost found himself scot free of them only for the blonde to grab him by the wrist and, without any of her friends noticing, slip a piece of paper into his pocket thrusting her hand deep enough in to briefly cup him before pulling away like nothing happened.

"She wanted you back _then_?" Orphen asked incredulously.

"Hey, veela are intrigued by those resistant to their charms. Just don't ask me why, I'm still working on that" Mahado rebuked.

"So, what did the note say?" Orphen inquired.

"Just to meet her at her tent after the game. Couldn't believe what I saw when I got there" Mahado paused for suspense before continuing. "A frigging veela orgy: mostly girls, barely a handful of the group were male and Hermione was there as well"

Hearing the sound of something trip and collide with an outcrop then tumble to the ground, Mahado stopped and retraced his steps to find Orphen in a crumpled heap on the ground clutching his head in pain.

"Oh, so you were listening to me"

All Orphen could do was glare up at his partner mentally telling the gun mage he would kill him if he ever joked about something like that again.

_**~#~**_

Feeling much better after her meet with Professor Potter, Hermione was in a slightly more cheerful mood than she had been in in a while. Although it did little to stem the worry over what would happen to them when her seventh year had finished, the talk rekindled memories of fourth year she and Orphen went through both concerning Junior and personal as well as throughout the rest of her time in Hogwarts.

So long as she had those memories of him, she could at least say she had had a happy, if eventful school life before stepping into the big world without him. That was assuming that they would never see each other again after that but, with the end of the school year still far ahead of them, Hermione decided to cross that bridge when they came to it and instead focus on the here and now.

For example: why, upon entering the Head Prefect dormitory, was her nostrils suddenly assaulted by some strange smelling incense that practically knocked her for a loop.

"What-What is that!?" She coughed out suddenly feeling sluggish and light headed mentally wondering if this was what it was like to be drunk as she stumbled her way out of the common room to her own quarters.

Practically slamming through the doorway, Hermione never thought to close the door and cast a spell to vanish the stench instead opting to stumble her way to the nearest open window where a light draft wafted in.

Her mind clearing slightly as she took in the cold night breeze, Hermione made to draw her wand and banish the stench of incense that had followed her up the stairs to her room when the click of the door closing behind her caught her attention. Whirling round, Hermione just had time to take in the sight of her green eyed assassin before he had swept her up in his arms and kissed her passionately.

Had she not been so foggy upside the head, the witch would have questioned how and why Orphen was here instead of breaking into Gringotts. Instead, she just slipped into bliss as her lover's touch danced over her soft spots.

_**~#~**_

"That is one strange barrier" Mahado commented as the two assassins reached the place where Mahado's creature could not penetrate.

"Any idea what it is?" Orphen inquired staring suspiciously at the ominous purple tinged wall of light that completely stonewalled their journey towards the Lestrange vault.

"Well it ain't goblin, I know that much" Mahado commented cautiously stepping up to the barrier. "Definitely dark but hell if I know what it is or does"

Any further speculations on the barrier were put on hold as, as if sensing their presence, the barrier shone brightly for a second before snapping forward in a movement similar to the Venus flytrap melding and morphing itself around the two assassins until it was the size and shape of a large sphere barely big enough for a child to fit comfortably in.

"Well now, this _is_ new" Mahado commented as he tried to squint through the pitch-black darkness around him noting how big the place he must be in judging by the echo.

"And troublesome" Orphen grunted from somewhere beside him.

_**~#~**_

_A touch of cliffhanger for you lot._

_Review if possible & until next time_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_


	24. 23rd Contract

_Disclaimer is on chapter one._

_**~#~**_

**Black Horizon**

_**~#~**_

The pounding of her head was the first thing Hermione felt when she stirred the following morning closely followed by the dampness of her underwear. She immediately regretted sitting up properly in shock as the pounding became twofold but that was quick to leave her as she pushed it aside to take in where she was sitting and how she had gotten to her desk- and praying that she had not drooled on the book she had been using as a pillow.

From the looks of things, Hermione quickly deduced that she had stumbled to her room, made to study at her desk in the corner next to her over packed bookcase then promptly fell asleep and, apparently, had a rather erotic dream concerning Orphen judging by how her knickers, and even a portion of her skirt, were damp. And yet, from what Hermione could vaguely recall, the dream felt so, for lack of a better word, real yet there were no signs of soreness in certain areas or of rough manhandling not to mention all her clothes were intact. In fact, the only soreness she felt was from her back from sleeping at her desk instead of her bed.

While Hermione was no magical version of a head shrink, the head she did have on her shoulders did tell her that what had happened last night was likely a mere combination from the stress of her boyfriend's assignment, the wizarding war and, most importantly, the nearing of _N.e.w.t.s_ causing her mind to send her into a dreamlike state where her boyfriend took her into the realm of bliss seeing as the real deal was currently out of reach for now and for who knows how long to come.

"_Lovely_" Hermione sighed sarcastically as she stripped out of her soiled clothing and into something fresh and dry to take on the day's classes. "Final exams are just several months away and my mind decides to rewind back to puberty!"

As if her day could not have any worse of a bad start, Hermione had the gracious fortune of leaving the head dormitory for the great hall the same time as Junior meaning she had to put up with conversing with the fake hero should he be the Lion the hat claimed him to be and strike up a topic.

Sadly, he did.

"Say, Hermione…" He began slightly nervously given this was their first ever proper chat since he had accidently destroyed one of her books in class a while back. "You wouldn't happen to know where Ginny is, would you?"

"Did you try under your bed sheets or perhaps the bathroom?" Hermione 'politely' threw back while wondering why he was asking her of all people. Did she look like his secretary or something?

"Nope. Wasn't in either of those places" Junior replied completely oblivious to the fact that she was being both cheeking and sarcastic.

Chewing her tongue to prevent lashing out at him, Hermione quickened her pace wanting to grab a quick breakfast before getting back to the books and resetting her mind to focus on the incoming storm that awaited all seventh years at the end of the year.

With any luck, she hoped that Orphen was having a better day than her.

_**~#~**_

Orphen was really hoping Hermione was having a better time than he was right now. Trapped in an endless dark place, the only light given to him was of the small sphere of light he had conjured overhead sometimes coupled with the muzzle flash and spell bullets Mahado fired now and again to try and gain some sort of bearing on where they were.

"Nothing" The gun mage muttered after firing an incendio bullet in a random direction. "Lack of impact suggests we're outside…"

"But the echo tells us we're in a cave or something similar to Salazaar's underground Chamber at Hogwarts and yet" Orphen paused to launch a spell into the infinite darkness above them only for it to continue upwards until it shimmered like a star in space before blinking out. "It's like we're outside all over again"

"Reminds me of the muggle saying: what comes first, the chicken or the egg?" Mahado joked before sighing in frustration. "What're the odds that your girl or mother would know exactly what this is within seconds?"

"This isn't the time to be discussing my love life or former life…Can you absorb this darkness?" Orphen inquired changing the topic back to their current predicament.

"Tried…this scenery may be pitch black in colour but it's not darkness" Mahado replied negatively.

Given the element of his Blood Art, Mahado was able to replenish his magic stores by absorbing the darkness of shadows, rather handy when in life threatening situations. It was one of the sole reasons why he preferred nocturnal missions and was weak to light and similar spells. For that ability not to kick in in such pure blackness, it was a definite sign that, wherever they were, was not in the real world. It also meant that shadow jumping was out of the question along with their version of apparating.

"So, we're really stuck here, aren't we" Orphen stated more than asked.

"Giving up already?" Mahado challenged.

"You're saying we can get out of this?" Orphen threw back.

"Haven't I taught you anything since we met? One of the first lessons I taught you was to remember the three ways to exit a trap should you ever find yourself in one" Mahado lectured much to Orphen's annoyance.

"Which were?" Orphen asked having never truly found himself where he could actually admit he was 'trapped' as Mahado generously put it.

"The way you got in due to lack of observation or stupidity; the way you get dragged out once dead and the way you make yourself" Mahado explained like it was obvious. "Didn't you read over the shoulder of Herms when she was reading her Transfiguration book about Nicholas Flamel's principles of transfiguration and alteration? 'When one does not find a door to success, common sense dictates you make your own'"

Noticing Orphen's dark look, Mahado realised he had to give a quick explanation before finding himself on the end of one of his spells.

"I had a stake out this one time with my master and the only thing to read while there were abandoned library books. What, I could only polish my guns only so many times after all"

Orphen glowered at his former master for a while more before relenting but not without making a mental note to himself to shadow Mahado for a bit once this was all over to make sure he was not spying on his witch whenever he was not looking. Shit, now he was becoming paranoid!

"So we make a 'door' out of here. Is that what you're saying? How?" Orphen asked suspiciously.

"Well, if we treat this place like a box, we just need to exceed its capacity level" Mahado explained removing the red crystal from one of his derringer pistols and replacing it with a similar crystal that was as black as the surroundings. "You always said you wanted to use that _T-Class _spell of yours, right?"

Orphen could only stare at Mahado like he had grown an extra head or ten. Just like there were spells in the common wizarding world that were deemed forbidden or unforgivable, so too did that apply to the Creed where several Blood Arts contained one or two spells that, due to its power and magnitude, were aptly designated T-Class as in _Taboo Classification_. Not only that, but Mahado was implying that they clash _two_ T-Class spells together in the hopes it would free them from this dark domain.

"You're insane, you know that?" Orphen sighed in resignation.

"If you have a better idea, I'm all ears" The gun mage retorted. He rather did not want to just aimlessly wander this place for days on end. Neither of them knew how long they had been here let alone how quick or slow time was going 'outside' for that matter.

"Five minutes, turn and cast work for you?" The gun mage asked as they prepared to do the unthinkable.

Squaring his shoulders, Orphen stood back to back with Mahado before both of them walked off in separate directions quite possibly for the last time in their lives…

_**~#~**_

In its current resting place amidst a myriad of treasures, the large black sphere seemed to quiver as if something inside were stirring like an egg would before hatching. Trembling once, twice, thrice more a large hairline crack appeared with a sharp snap before exploding sending everything off the stone shelves and half burying two disoriented assassins in a mixture of gold and silver.

"Well…it worked…I think" Mahado muttered trying to keep the contents of his stomach were it it usually resided.

Orphen would have made a comeback of some kind had the buzzing in his head not caught his attention. Looking round, the assassin was quick to jostle his partner grabbing Mahado's attention whose eyes quickly locked onto their prize that was literally sitting out of reach.

"Want me to risk say 'lucky break' or do you want the honours?" The gun mage asked right before the door to the vault started to make clicking noises as the locking mechanisms came undone.

"You were saying?" Orphen threw back as the door opened to reveal a certain mad woman and her entourage who were quite surprised at the sight before them…

_**~#~#~#~**_

_As you can see, I'm still here & finally back to finish what I started although I apologise for the wait for those on the edge of the seat after last chapter hoping answers would be given- you'll have to stew longer until all is revealed, folks._

_Review if possible & until next time_

_Watch your backs & peace be upon you!_


End file.
